Participants salute the national flag at a rally against the merger of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies and the relocation of the Korea Military Academy, held jointly with the academies' alumni associations and a parents' group on July 8. [Yonhap]
Participants salute the national flag at a rally against the merger of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies and the relocation of the Korea Military Academy, held jointly with the academies' alumni associations and a parents' group on July 8. [Yonhap]

A broad national coalition has formed to oppose the government's plan to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force academies into a single institution to be called the Korea National Military Academy.

The coalition — comprising 82 civic organizations and 51 veterans' security groups and calling itself the National Alliance to Stop the Closure of Military Academies — held a launch press conference Friday morning at the National Assembly press center alongside People Power Party lawmaker Im Jong-deuk, demanding that the government and the Ministry of National Defense immediately and completely scrap the plan to close the three service academies and establish a single unified academy.

Lee Hee-bum, chairman of the NGO General Federation, opened the press conference by warning that "the three service academies, which have served as the cradle of national defense for nearly 80 years, now face the threat of disappearing overnight." He added that "the government is unilaterally pushing ahead with the merger under the guise of 'strengthening jointness.'"

Lee Jeong-rin, a former vice minister of national defense, directed his criticism squarely at those driving the policy. "Politicians with little military experience or expertise and civilian academics trapped in armchair theorizing are leading national defense education," he said. He added that the defense minister had nodded in agreement with senior military figures only to reverse his commitments the moment Cheong Wa Dae said otherwise.

Shin Do-cheol, co-chair of the Freedom Defense Forum, rebuffed the case for consolidation by pointing to fundamental differences among the services. "The Army, Navy and Air Force differ at their core in operational environment, equipment and required combat skills," he said. "It is no different from the distinct nature of medical schools, law schools and aviation colleges."

Jo Seong-hwan, co-chair of a civic education policy group, raised concerns about both the treatment of junior officers and wasteful spending. "Building a new academy in the provinces while abandoning the existing three campuses will cost a minimum of 10 trillion won ($7.18 billion)," he said, arguing that tax money that should go toward improving service conditions and acquiring advanced weapons must not be squandered on construction projects designed to pad a political legacy.

Kim Eun-gu, standing chairman of Truth Korea, took aim at the public hearing the government has announced for next week. "The president already declared at the Defense Ministry briefing on Aug. 5 and at the Ulchi Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the creation of the Korea National Military Academy must be pursued without wavering," he said. "A public hearing held after that declaration is nothing more than a formality to silence opposition."

The alliance announced a series of campaigns against the government, including a nationwide petition drive targeting 10 million signatures to stop the academy closures, the launch of a "public verification panel" to scrutinize the constitutionality and risks of the policy, an official launch ceremony and national resolution rally, and a large-scale public demonstration.

In a resolution, the alliance called on the government and the Ministry of National Defense to fully scrap the plan to close the three service academies and establish a single unified academy, to halt what it described as security self-harm driven by the political logic of non-experts, and to issue an apology from those responsible for policies that have damaged the independence of national defense and the honor of the officer corps.

"National defense belongs not to any administration but to all the people," Lee said, urging the public to "join the national march to protect the three service academies, beginning with the launch ceremony on Aug. 31."


rimsclub@heraldcorp.com