Defense minister backs push for unified military academy as fundamental reform for future

Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back delivers a commemorative address at the 24th Anniversary Ceremony of the Victory in the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, held at the Republic of Korea Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Tuesday stood by the government's push to unify military academies into one single institution, calling it a "fundamental reform" that will help pool future cadets amid a demographic cliff and other changing trends.

Ahn made the call in a command letter to the leaderships of the armed forces, amid growing backlash over the Lee Jae Myung government's drive to consolidate the academies of the Army, the Air Force and the Navy.

Debate is heating up as retired top brass and alumni associations of the armed forces have joined forces to issue formal statements calling on the government to reconsider the campaign.

"I believe everyone from the superintendents to the cadets is working harder than anyone else," the letter obtained by Yonhap News Agency showed.

"However, fundamental reform is essential across the board, including for the visions and goals of the academies, their faculties, facilities and infrastructure, as well as the educational curriculum," he said.

Ahn highlighted the need to bolster "jointness" among the military branches to hone the cadets' abilities through "learning and training together."

"We must instill jointness into our cadets by having them learn, train and think together from the very start of their academy education so that it can be further evolved in the fields," he said.

Ahn also pointed out that admission scores for military academies are on the decline, saying that it reflects the academies' failure to convince aspiring cadets that they are the places where they can realize their potential.

"We must expand the scale of our military academies to create a larger vessel for nurturing national talent," he said, adding that the integrated institution will provide a platform for cadets to build capabilities in advanced fields, like artificial intelligence.