Defense Ministry pressed to integrate military academies

The government is pushing to integrate parts of the curriculum of the nation`s three top military academies to help improve efficiency and combat ability, pressed by orders from the presidential office, according to defense sources yesterday.

A military and governmental taskforce is to be established by January next year to promote these and other changes to improve training at the academies in charge of producing cadets for the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Defense Ministry said.

"The plan at the moment is to combine the curriculum at these three schools so that cadets can take courses outside of their respective academies to expand their horizons, while also receiving credit for those courses," said Won Tae-jae, the ministry spokesman.

Calls for the government to integrate the three schools have been mounting on the growing need to increase the interoperability of the three armed forces, which would in turn increase efficiency and combat ability.



Cheong Wa Dae, noting such calls, has repeatedly requested the Defense Ministry to explore the possibilities of integration.

"There are many advanced countries across the globe that have integrated not just their military academies, but the military itself in order to improve efficiency and combat capacity," said one defense source who declined to be identified.

He pointed out that cadets would be gaining cross-border information and knowledge, which could be used to the nation`s advantage during times of war.

The Defense Ministry, however, has been unwilling to agree to the integration as the academies often provide jobs for executive-level military officials.

In July, the ministry had said it was not considering combining the three academies in any way.

The ministry is now pressed to tackle these and other challenges aimed at advancing the military with the launch of a newly created defense advancement committee.

Headed by Lee Sang-woo, former head of Hallym University and professor of political science, the committee is comprised of 15 experts from the Korea National Defense University and Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

The committee held its first closed-door session yesterday.

President Lee Myung-bak has repeatedly sent out signals pushing for reforms at the ministry and within the military to promote efficiency, but at lower costs by cutting down on weapons acquisition.

In January he appointed Chang Soo-man, former head of the Public Procurement Service and a close aide on financial matters, as vice defense minister for the purpose of streamlining the military.

Under a set of reforms planned under former President Roh Moo-hyun, the nation`s defense sector is scheduled to increase war deterrence by 2020, but the costs involved are at the center of controversy due to the currently sluggish economic conditions.

(jemmie@heraldm.com)



By Kim Ji-hyun