Defense ministry mulls setting up integrated military academy in Daejeon

Alumni associations of the Army, Navy and Air Force military academies hold a rally in front of the National Assembly, July 8, calling on the government to halt its push to integrate the academies of the three military branches. Yonhap

The defense ministry is considering a plan to establish an integrated military academy of the Army, Navy and Air Force in the central city of Daejeon, offering a full four-year education program, military sources said Wednesday.

The ministry has been seeking to newly establish a tentatively named "National Military Academy" by combining the academies of the three military branches in an effort to pool talented future cadets amid a demographic decline.

The potential site for the envisioned school was selected at Jaundae, a compound of military training and education facilities in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, according to military sources.

The ministry is also reviewing providing a four-year education at the new military academy, while offering cadets courses focused on training specific to their respective branches in their final years.

Initially, the government was considering a plan to have cadets from all branches take common courses during their first two years at the school, before transferring to their respective military academies for branch-specific training.

The ministry is also reviewing measures to expand the scope of the integrated military academy to include other educational facilities, such as the Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy, in the long term.

The ministry plans to announce details of the plan as early as Thursday, according to the sources.

The integrated military academy plan has met with fierce backlash from graduates of the military academies and the main opposition party, which claim the government was pushing for the integration in a "hasty" manner without sufficient public debate.

The defense ministry had planned to announce the plan last week but abruptly postponed, citing the defense minister's scheduling issue.