No budget for unified military academy in 2027 plan — Defense Ministry cites need for feasibility review first

The project to establish a unified "National Military Academy" merging the Army, Navy and Air Force academies has received no funding in next year's budget proposal.

The Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday that no budget had been allocated for the National Military Academy this year, citing the need to specify required costs through preliminary research. It added that it would pursue a feasibility study and other related procedural reviews.

The announcement marks a significant slowdown from July, when the ministry formally unveiled a basic plan for the academy's establishment, pushing any financial commitment back to 2028 at the earliest.

The Defense Ministry held a public hearing on Aug. 26 to gather opinions on the academy's creation and plans to finalize and announce a detailed plan based on that input.

Opposition has mounted since the basic plan was released, led primarily by alumni associations of the three service academies. While some expressed sympathy with the goal of integration, concerns were raised over the proposed construction of a new campus at Jaunidae, the pace of the initiative and questions about preserving the individual academies' identities. Some in the opposition also raised allegations of political motivation behind the push.

Critics say the feasibility study the Defense Ministry has now specified falls short of providing the procedural credibility the project needs.

Major state projects are typically subject to a preliminary feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which requires the project to be reflected in national medium- and long-term plans and cleared through inter-agency consultations in advance. The feasibility study under the Defense Acquisition Program Act, however, can be initiated without such prior consultations.

Because the process is streamlined, the depth of scrutiny may be reduced — raising the risk that the study drags on or that its findings remain uncertain, according to KIDA.

The Defense Ministry still aims to finalize and announce a detailed plan in October and complete legislation for a "National Military Academy Establishment Act" before the end of the year. However, observers note that with budget allocation already pushed back by a year, it is unclear whether the October deadline and the year-end legislative target can be met.

A Defense Ministry official said the decision to establish the academy had already been made, but that securing funding for the site, facilities and restructuring of the education system would first go through procedural verification.

Eom Hyo-sik, director of defense industry security at the Defense Security Forum, said the fundamental problem was that the Defense Ministry had failed to build sufficient communication and consensus while pursuing the integration. "When a new minister comes in, they will need to start the communication process from scratch," he said. He added that integration itself was an issue worth considering constructively, and that normal discussions about the crisis facing the academies and the alternatives needed to pick up speed.