Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense on the 14th made clear there is no change in the plan to push ahead with integrating the three service academies. He directly rebutted a claim by the three service academies' alumni association that, during a meeting, Ahn said he would "also consider a plan to maintain the current system."
Meeting with reporters on his first commute after returning to the main Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan that morning, the Minister said, "Could I say we would maintain the current system while integrating the service academies?" and added, "I basically think it would be difficult."
On the 12th, after meeting with Minister Ahn for about an hour, the alumni association claimed that "Minister Ahn said he would also consider a plan to maintain the current Army, Navy and Air Force three-service academy system." The same day, the Ministry of National Defense noted that "it is not true that he said maintaining the current system would also be considered, and it meant that, based on establishing a unified military academy, we would listen to a variety of opinions," turning the situation into a dispute over the facts.
Regarding the creation of a "guard armistice enforcement brigade," reportedly being pursued by the United Nations Command (UNC), the Minister said, "We agreed not to proceed with either the establishment or the event." He drew a line after observations were raised that the UNC's idea of reorganizing the Military Armistice Commission functions and the Joint Security Area (JSA) guard unit into a brigade-level organization could become a source of friction between South Korea and the United States.
The day also marked the Ministry of National Defense's return to the minister's office in the main building after about four years. The Minister said, "I feel deeply distressed that taxpayers' money was wasted in a place where it should not have been wasted." The expense incurred for the Ministry of National Defense to move to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) building and then transfer back is known to have exceeded 55 billion won in total over the two moves.