Military academy merger hearing erupts in shouting; alumni groups demand fresh review

A public hearing convened by the Ministry of National Defense on the creation of a unified military academy descended into more than four hours of shouting and jeering. The combined alumni associations of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies said they expect the defense minister — who pledged to listen to all views with an open mind — to take the issues raised at the hearing seriously and conduct a full review from scratch, comparing and analyzing reasonable alternatives.

In a statement issued Thursday, the associations said they hoped the hearing would not end as "a mere formality" and that the concerns raised would be properly reflected in policy.

The associations argued that the hearing exposed flaws in what they described as politically motivated arguments for merging the academies. "The pro-merger panelists on the Defense Ministry's side presented arguments riddled with bias and errors," the statement said, urging the ministry to "humbly accept and take on board the points raised by the opposing panelists, in the broader national interest."

The associations also singled out remarks by Professor Choi Young-jin, who had argued in favor of consolidation, saying they hoped his call to "compete over which system would produce the finest officer corps for the Republic of Korea" — described as an expression of academic conscience — would guide the search for alternatives.

The associations said they would pay close attention to recommendations by researcher Du Jin-ho, who called for guaranteed participation by policy stakeholders at tiered consultative meetings, public hearings and admissions briefings, along with greater transparency, credibility and openness in the policymaking process. They also noted his argument that the financial feasibility of the project — including the costs of relocating and redistributing facilities and constructing new infrastructure — requires continued scrutiny.

However, the Defense Ministry reaffirmed at the hearing that it would "listen to diverse opinions with an open mind" while making clear that its underlying policy of establishing a unified military academy remains unchanged, meaning further clashes with opponents are expected.

The ministry plans to continue gathering public input through policy briefings next month before finalizing and announcing a detailed plan for the unified academy in October.