The Ministry of National Defense said on the 16th it will establish a four-year Korea Armed Forces Academy by integrating the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies at Jaundae in Daejeon. Cadets will spend four years at Jaundae, with first- and second-year students receiving common education and third- and fourth-year students receiving branch-specialized education. The Ministry of National Defense said this is "to train future-oriented officers with joint operations capabilities in line with the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON)." Detailed plans, including admissions, will be released around Oct.
The government and the ruling party held a policy consultation meeting at the National Assembly on the morning of the day and announced the basic plan to establish the Korea Armed Forces Academy centered on this content. Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, "Now is the time to fundamentally reform the service academy education system," adding, "As the landscape of modern warfare, including artificial intelligence (AI) and drones, is rapidly changing, we must train officers who possess both science and technology and liberal arts education and can integrate all-domain operations."
◇ Background is changes in internal and external factors… Daejeon as a "military capital"
External factors for pushing the Korea Armed Forces Academy include declining population and changes in the future warfare landscape, cultivating talent in preparation for OPCON transition, and the need to strengthen joint military power. With standing forces projected to decrease to about 400,000 and the school-age population to 260,000 by 2040, it is argued that service academy reform should proceed along with military structure reform. An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "The battlefield is changing into all-domain integrated operations such as space and cyber beyond branch boundaries, and it is time to cultivate talent to lead Korea-led South Korea-U.S. combined operations."
The Ministry of National Defense cited inefficient educational requirements within the military, including overlapping curricula of the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies. The Minister said, "Each service academy currently is the size of a college with 700 to 1,000 students," adding, "We train a total of 2,900 cadets, which requires 3,000 personnel and seven general officers. Even though 70% of each academy's education is the same, faculty appointments and education are done separately." The Minister added, "Rooted in the armed forces, the concept is for first- and second-year students to receive AI and all-domain education, and for third- and fourth-year students to receive specialized education."
The Korea Armed Forces Academy will be established at Jaundae in Yuseong District, Daejeon. The Ministry of National Defense explained that Daejeon Metropolitan City has about 90 educational and national institutions, including the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), making it the optimal location to leverage infrastructure. In the mid to long term, the Nursing Academy and Advanced Technology Academy will be merged to create the Korea Armed Forces University. The plan is to ultimately complete the integration of the Army, Navy, and Air Force colleges and make Daejeon a hub for cultivating the armed forces. An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "Considering the demographic cliff, we could not delay any longer."
Army Education Command and the Army Logistics School, which were located within Jaundae, will be moved to Sangmudae in South Jeolla Province. The Army, Navy, and Air Force colleges will be moved to the Air Force Academy site in Cheongju and reintegrated into a Joint Military University. With the launch of the integrated service academy, the existing Army, Navy, and Air Force academy sites and facilities that will be vacated will also be reviewed for use in line with each service's force development requirements and education and training functions.
◇ Transfer, admissions, and budget undecided… detailed plan to be released in Oct.
The plan disclosed by the Ministry of National Defense on the day is a basic plan, and the stance is to announce detailed blueprints in Oct. Basically, the idea under review is to pre-assign quotas for those who will enter each of the Army, Navy, and Air Force while additionally selecting a common pool, increasing the current size of around 600 by more than 100. However, the cadet selection method and timetable have not been finalized.
The same goes for the budget and curriculum. While there is a broad plan to secure a budget, the Ministry of National Defense said it will first conduct a preliminary study, then finalize specific figures and make them public. There was no plan beyond expansion regarding how to secure civilian faculty. The Ministry of National Defense said that the current ratio of civilian faculty, about 24%, will be expanded to more than 50%, and that it will secure outstanding faculty by guaranteeing compensation at the level of national universities.
An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "We will go through opinion gathering and public hearings until the time of the announcement, and the reason we did not announce a specific year is because various opinions can emerge," adding, "We have begun the study, and when a concrete roadmap comes out, we will explain it in detail." The official added, "From the beginning, we maintained political neutrality and focused only on the problems of education to devise this plan."
To sufficiently gather opinions, the Ministry of National Defense plans to hold a briefing at the National Assembly next week and subsequent public hearings. The Minister said, "Reform must be achieved based on the people's trust," adding, "The Ministry of National Defense will take an open stance and actively gather the people's opinions."
Meanwhile, at the consultation meeting on the day, the Democratic Party said it would push to handle the establishment law for the Korea Armed Forces Academy and reflect the related budget in 2027, and would work to ensure prompt budget support.
To sufficiently gather opinions, the Ministry of National Defense plans to hold a briefing at the National Assembly next week and subsequent public hearings. An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "From the beginning, we maintained political neutrality and focused only on the problems of education to devise this plan." The Minister said, "Reform must be achieved based on the people's trust," adding, "The Ministry of National Defense will take an open stance and actively gather the people's opinions."