▲ Meeting of former Army, Navy, and Air Force chiefs of staff
Forty-six former chiefs of staff from all military branches announced yesterday (August 6) that they "strongly urge the government to reconsider the push to integrate the three service academies."
In a statement released that day, they made this appeal, stating, "Even now, the government must formulate fundamental development measures that enhance the pride and honor of junior officers and attract outstanding talent to the military, rather than pursuing the physical integration of the academies."
The former chiefs argued, "The logic for integration presented by the government is a contradiction in itself. Joint operations are not fostered simply by educating people in the same location, and integration will not save money; instead, it will require astronomical budgets."
They added, "The government's push for integration is proceeding without a national consensus. Driving it forward without reflecting the opinions and public sentiment of experts can never be justified."
Furthermore, they claimed, "Generalizing the political intervention of certain military personnel from specific academies as a problem of the academy graduates as a whole, and presenting academy integration as a preventive measure, is a misdiagnosis and a wrong prescription. This deepens concerns that the academy integration is being pursued for political reasons."
This is interpreted as a criticism of President Lee Jae-myung, who during a Ministry of National Defense work report the previous day encouraged the push for academy integration, saying, "Wouldn't integrating [the academies] somewhat reduce such possibilities [of a coup]?"
According to attendees, 26 former chiefs of staff met in person at the Air Force Hotel in Seoul to formulate this stance, and including those who expressed intent to sign by name, a total of 46 former chiefs ultimately participated.
They consisted of 18 from the Army, 13 from the Navy, and 15 from the Air Force, with notable names including former Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin (Army) —
Note: translating exact names from the text
— wait, checking text: Kim Kwan-jin is not in text, text says Han Min-koo (Army) former Minister of National Defense, Jeong Kyeong-doo former Minister of National Defense (Air Force), and Won In-chul former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Air Force). Let's re-translate that accurately based on text: Former Defense Minister Han Min-koo (Army), former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo (Air Force), and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Won In-chul (Air Force) were among those who put their names on the list.
Kang Dong-gil, former Chief of Naval Operations who was appointed under the Lee Jae-myung administration and resigned over suspicions of involvement in martial law, also signed the joint statement.
This is known to be the first time that former chiefs of staff from all three services have issued a joint statement regarding a specific government policy.
Academy integration was a presidential election pledge of President Lee and a national policy task. Last month, the Ministry of National Defense announced a basic plan for the establishment of a "Korea National Defense Academy," centered on creating a unified four-year institution by merging the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies in Daejeon's Jaundae.
The Ministry of National Defense plans to hold a public hearing on the establishment of the Korea National Defense Academy on August 26 to gather opinions from various sectors of society, and to formulate and announce a detailed plan for its establishment in October.
(Photo provided by attendees, Yonhap News)
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