The Ministry of National Defense building [Yonhap]
The Ministry of National Defense building [Yonhap]

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense will hold a public hearing Wednesday afternoon on the establishment of a unified military academy, the ministry announced Tuesday.

The ministry announced the hearing on Aug. 4. It will be broadcast live on the Defense Media Agency's television channel and YouTube.

The session will proceed with expert panel discussions followed by a question-and-answer period. Im Cheol-il, a professor at Seoul National University, will chair the event. Six panelists are set to take part: Kang Byeong-cheol, a retired Air Force brigadier general; Kim Se-jin, secretary-general of Mirae Saenggak; Du Jin-ho, head of the Eurasia Center at the Korea Institute for Strategic Studies; Jo Gi-hong, a retired Navy colonel; Jin Ho-yeong, a retired Air Force brigadier general; and Choi Yeong-jin, a professor at Chung-Ang University.

The expert discussion is expected to cover the case for establishing a unified military academy as well as ways to strengthen education at the service academies.

The Q&A session will allow attendees to raise opinions and questions freely, with the ministry saying it aims to gather a broad range of public views.

"We plan to carefully review opinions collected from all walks of life at the hearing and then draw up the best possible plan for establishing the unified military academy," the ministry said.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, however, will not attend. His absence has drawn some surprise, given that he oversees the academy consolidation effort and the hearing is intended to gather wide-ranging public input.


youknow@heraldcorp.com