Military academies in trouble over gender issue

Female cadets clap hands during the commencement ceremony of the Korea Military Academy’s (KMA) at the KMA training field in Gongneung-dong, northeastern Seoul, in this file photo taken on Feb. 23, 2013. / Korea Times photo by Kim Joo-sung

By Kang Seung-woo

Military academies are coping with a new reality created by female cadets outperforming males.

The Korea Military Academy (KMA) is under fire for revising its evaluation system in favor of male cadets, while the Air Force Academy was forced to withdraw its decision to switch a female valedictorian.

In addition, the military authorities have decided not to make public the rankings of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program for each school, based on military training, after women’s universities finished first for two years in a row.

According to a KMA official, the school was set to go ahead with a new evaluation system prioritizing military-related subjects including military science in which male cadets generally perform better for the upcoming graduation.

The school had female cadets graduate with the highest honors for the second straight year and with the new calculation format ― only one female cadet is among the top seven graduates, who are granted an award ― compared to three based on the old format.

As a result, female students complained about the decision and the KMA has temporarily put the plan on hold until next year.

Last week, the Air Force Academy was hit hard for choosing a runner-up male cadet as its presidential award recipient rather than a female cadet, who had the best academic record.

Due to poor grades in a few subjects that the Air Force believes symbolize a cadet’s military identity, the academy was set to push ahead with the decision, but amid growing criticism from lawmakers and members of the general public, it reviewed the decision and switched the award winner to the female student.

The defense ministry is also in hot waters for adopting a new system that does not disclose ROTC schools’ rankings after Sookmyung Women’s University and Sungshin Women’s University finished first in the 2012 summer exercises and 2012-13 winter exercises, respectively. Sookmyung set up the ROTC program in 2010, followed by Sungshin in 2011.

“The ranking system is not announced in order to prevent disharmony among cadets,” Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

He added that the ranking system still remains.

Currently, the ROTC program is evaluated in three categories in accordance with exercise outcomes.

In response to criticism over gender discrimination, the KMA said that the previous evaluation system weighed too much on general academics.

“In order to produce officers who combine intellectual capabilities with military qualities, we have come up with the new format after a year of study,” the school said in a statement.

KAM and the Air Force Academy opened their doors to women in 1998 and 1997, respectively.

These occurrences come as the defense ministry announced last week that females will be able to assume all Army duties including artillery and armor from this year.

In addition, 20 female cadets will be admitted to the Korea Army Academy in 2015 for the first time since its establishment in 1968.