[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that graduates of the Korea Military Academy have been at the center of past military coups, yet have never been held accountable once, ordering the swift pursuit of the integration of military academies. He also stated that it makes no sense that negotiations over the return of granted land remain sluggish even after the relocation of U.S. military bases to Pyeongtaek.

Reporter Kim Ayeong has the details.

[Reporter]

During the presidential policy briefing by foreign affairs and national security ministries held yesterday morning at the Blue House.

After receiving a report from the Ministry of National Defense on the plan to integrate the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies, President Lee Jae-myung emphasized this, noting that all three past military coups centered around the Korea Military Academy, but no accountability was ever demanded.

[President Lee Jae-myung: Officers from a specific military branch almost overwhelmingly dominated the military and occasionally staged military coups that ruined the country, and yet they faced no accountability whatsoever. Does this sort of thing make any sense? Integrating them will somewhat reduce the likelihood of such occurrences.]

This made it clear that the purpose of integrating the military academies is to "keep the Korea Military Academy in check."

Bringing up the possibility of a coup recurring by asking, "Couldn't they do it again?", President Lee ordered that integration be carried out swiftly and forcefully to "structurally ensure it can never happen."

Regarding the situation where returned sites previously used by U.S. forces across the country are not being handed back in a timely manner even after U.S. military units relocated to the Pyeongtaek base, which the government spent 10 trillion won to build, he bluntly stated that it "makes no sense from a common-sense perspective."

[President Lee Jae-myung: In my view, it's practically an excuse. They don't hand them over for various reasons, or even when they do, they attach strings so they cannot be used. Isn't this a real problem?]

[Ahn Gyu-back / Minister of National Defense: We will proceed with a sense of speed.]

When Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back reported that the U.S. side is passive, President Lee pointed out, "That is why you shouldn't pay in advance."

Regarding the Ministry of Unification's report on pursuing a change in terminology to refer to North Korea as "Joseon," President Lee urged caution, saying, "We need to think very carefully about this."

[President Lee Jae-myung: When you try to do something properly with good intentions, there are cases where that is instead seized upon as a pretext for attacks, ultimately resulting in a worse situation.]

Stating that "independent national defense is the ultimate goal," President Lee repeatedly expressed his determination to transition wartime operational control within his term.

(Video Editing: Seunghee)