A public hearing scheduled for next week is drawing close attention as Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and the alumni associations of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies trade conflicting accounts of what was said during a recent meeting — a dispute that has erupted just as the government prepares to launch a unified military academy.
Speaking to reporters recently, Ahn pushed back against claims by the alumni associations that he had told them the government could consider keeping the current academy system as one of its options. "How could I say we would maintain the current system while integrating the academies?" he said. "I basically think that would be difficult."
The alumni associations, however, insist they heard exactly that. "Every person present clearly heard him say he would consider, as one option, a plan to pursue education reform while maintaining the current academy system," they said, adding that they had followed up by asking whether the process and results of such a review would be made public. "The minister replied that he would make it public," they said.
The Defense Ministry moved quickly to distance itself from that account after the meeting, saying it was "not true" that the minister had agreed to consider keeping the current system. "The establishment of a unified national military academy is the foundation of our plan," the ministry said. "We will achieve the best possible academy education reform by incorporating the various opinions raised."
The alumni associations hit back, demanding that Ahn "explain himself and apologize for insulting the association leaders." They warned that without a satisfactory explanation and apology, they would no longer trust the ministry's future policy announcements and were considering boycotting the public hearing on the academy merger scheduled for Aug. 26.
Ahn has said he intends to use the public hearing to continue making the case to the alumni associations.
"Even in wartime, we communicate and talk with the enemy — members of the same defense community should certainly be able to talk with each other," he said. "Our views may differ, but I believe we share the same goal. There have been heated exchanges between us, and a full meeting of minds right away may be difficult, but I think we are in a position to have an open conversation."
He also indicated the government plans to hold multiple public hearings. "I haven't thought about a specific number," he said. "We probably won't reach a consensus at this one, so we may need to hold a few more."
The Defense Ministry is set to hold a public hearing on the establishment of a unified national military academy on the afternoon of Aug. 26 at the Defense Convention center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
The alumni associations, however, are not backing down from their position that the current system should be preserved, while the ministry has repeatedly made clear it has no intention of putting that option on the table — raising the possibility that the two sides could emerge from the hearing further apart than before.
A ministry official said Ahn had given "a general response conveying that he understood the points the alumni associations were making," and stressed that the ministry "will achieve the best possible education reform by gathering reasonable opinions, with the establishment of a unified national military academy as its foundation."
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