South Korea to Create Single Military Academy for Army, Navy and Air Force at Jaundae

The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic Party on July 16 agreed to establish an integrated military academy for the Army, Navy and Air Force at Jaundae, a military training compound in Daejeon about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, Yonhap reported.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the National Military Academy will adopt an academic system that provides autonomy and maximizes each cadet's potential. He added that the site lies in the heart of the country's science and technology sector near the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

Rep. Han Byung-do, acting leader of the Democratic Party, said the current system of separate academies faces practical limitations and that creating a unified academy is a task that can no longer be put off. He said the party will spare no effort to develop the institution into a world-class military academy.

Yonhap reported that President Lee Jae Myung's government has sought the unification to pool talented cadets amid demographic decline and to respond to evolving warfare that now includes space, cyber and electromagnetic domains. The defense ministry cited the need to prepare officers for all-domain warfare and to lead the ROK-U.S. combined defense system after the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States.

The ministry is considering a four-year education program with branch-specific courses in the final years. It plans to raise total enrollment above the current quota of about 730 cadets, comprising 330 Army, 230 Air Force and 170 Navy positions. The government will increase the share of civilian professors to at least 50 percent and create a dedicated task force to oversee the project.