Defense Ministry to Hold Public Hearing Tomorrow on 'Unified Military Academy' Plan

The Ministry of National Defense, which is pushing to establish a four-year Korea National Defense Academy by integrating the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies, will hold a public hearing tomorrow to gather public opinions.

According to the Ministry of National Defense today, the public hearing on the establishment of the Korea National Defense Academy will take place at the National Defense Convention in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, featuring expert discussions and a Q&A session with attendees.

The expert panel discussion will be moderated by Lim Cheol-il, a professor of education at Seoul National University, with six panelists participating: retired Air Force Brigadier General Kang Byeong-chul, Future Thoughts Secretary-General Kim Se-jin, Du Jin-ho, head of the Eurasia Center at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (Korea Institute for Defense Analyses), retired Navy Captain Cho Gi-hong, retired Air Force Brigadier General Jin Ho-young, and Chung-Ang University Professor Choi Young-jin.

The ministry stated that the subsequent Q&A session will allow attendees to freely share their views and ask questions, aiming to broadly gather diverse perspectives.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back is reportedly not planning to attend the public hearing.

During a regular briefing yesterday, Ministry Spokesperson Jung Bit-na explained, "We do not believe whether the Minister attends is a decisive factor in holding the public hearing," adding that Minister Ahn will collect feedback through various occasions moving forward.

Based on the opinions gathered at the public hearing, the Ministry plans to finalize and announce detailed plans for the establishment of the Korea National Defense Academy around October.

"We plan to carefully review the opinions gathered from all walks of life during the public hearing and establish an optimal plan for the creation of the Korea National Defense Academy," the ministry stated.
 

(Photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.