Park Pan-jun, president of the Korea Military Academy Alumni Association, leaves the Defense Ministry building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday after meeting with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back to discuss the military academy integration policy. [Yonhap]
Park Pan-jun, president of the Korea Military Academy Alumni Association, leaves the Defense Ministry building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday after meeting with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back to discuss the military academy integration policy. [Yonhap]

The presidents of the Army, Navy and Air Force academy alumni associations are demanding that Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back apologize for what they called a mockery of their delegation, escalating a dispute with the ministry a day after their Wednesday meeting.

According to the alumni association heads, Wednesday's meeting followed a one-question, one-answer format, in which each question received a clear response before the next was raised. The delegation's central request, they said, was that educational reform be pursued while keeping the existing separate academy structure intact.

All participants clearly heard Minister Ahn respond that "pursuing educational reform while maintaining the current military academy structure would be considered as one of the options," the alumni association heads said.

The Defense Ministry, however, issued a statement immediately after the meeting saying it would "listen to various opinions with an open mind," while flatly denying that Ahn had agreed to consider preserving the current structure. "The foundation is the establishment of a unified Korea Armed Forces Academy," the ministry said. "We will achieve the best possible military academy education reform by incorporating the various opinions raised."

The alumni associations fired back, saying they would not trust any future Defense Ministry policy statements or explanations unless they received a satisfactory explanation and apology. They also said they were considering boycotting a public hearing on the academy consolidation plan scheduled for Aug. 26.

The groups added that they had come to realize the defense minister lacked the authority to act on the academy consolidation issue and that any dialogue or recommendations directed at him would be futile. They publicly called for a meeting with the president, whom they described as holding the real authority and solutions on the matter.

At a briefing Thursday, a Defense Ministry official was asked whether the minister had responded in a way that suggested he would consider keeping the current structure. "That is not true," the official said. "My understanding is that he gave a general response indicating he had understood their position."

The Defense Ministry plans to hold a public hearing on the establishment of a unified Korea Armed Forces Academy at the Defense Convention center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of Aug. 26. The ministry has drawn a clear line, however, saying it has no plans to consider maintaining the current structure even if that view is strongly expressed at the hearing.

Earlier, former Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs of staff had stated that consolidating the three service academies would "irresponsibly shake the foundation of the system for developing national defense talent."

They added that the public hearing and other opinion-gathering processes were being carried out as a formality with the conclusion already decided. "This is not intended to criticize a particular administration or express a political position," they said, "but to convey to the public and the government the professional views of those who have served as the military's top commanders on a policy that will have long-term implications for national security."


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