Seong Il-jong slams Lee over Korea Military Academy nominee: 'Said abolish it, then picked a graduate'

People Power Party lawmaker Seong Il-jong said Tuesday that Defense Minister candidate Kang Shin-cheol is "an outstanding soldier whose life has been quite admirable," but added that the president had made "the appointment most contrary to his own words."

Appearing on MBC Radio that day, Seong said the president had previously argued that the Korea Military Academy should be abolished because it had "launched three coups," yet had gone ahead and nominated a graduate of that very school.

Seong said he hoped the incoming minister would "resolve various pending issues such as the military academy question and the transfer of wartime operational control," but on the question of merging the three service academies, he said the matter "must be resolved according to principles — they cannot simply be abolished."

He added that while the Defense Ministry had said it would restore the identity of the Army and the armed forces, he saw no problem with upholding the distinct identities of the Korea Military Academy, the Korea Air Force Academy and the Korea Naval Academy. "Merging the schools that train future military leaders could weaken the combat effectiveness of the armed forces — that is simply unacceptable," he said.

On the controversy surrounding former Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek's alleged desertion record, Seong criticized the appointment, saying there were likely "core issues beyond just the detention allegations that would be very difficult for him to explain," and that the president "should have appointed someone who could present their military service record without shame."

Regarding Justice Minister candidate Kim Seung-won, Seong said he was "the person who most actively led the push to withdraw indictments," and that what was supposed to be a personnel decision that "makes everything work out" had instead become "a disaster — a catastrophe that ruins everything."

On the appointment of Basic Income Party lawmaker Yong Hye-in as minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Seong said talk was circulating — among other lawmakers and in various media outlets — that the nomination was "bait to get Kim Seung-won confirmed as minister."

He noted that the controversies surrounding Minister Kang Sun-woo and Minister Lee Hye-hoon had previously drawn public attention away from the Defense Ministry nomination, allowing that appointment to go through. "This is the kind of personnel strategy where you plant people as part of a build-up toward withdrawing indictments," he said.