The three service academies should not be merged in a rush

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said at the July 1 Armed Forces Major Commanders Meeting that "fundamental reform" of South Korea's military academies is urgently needed, making the integration of the Army, Navy and Air Force academies one of the Defense Ministry's three top priorities. He argued that the services' specialized expertise should not become institutional barriers and that a joint operational mindset must be cultivated from the academy level.

Under the ministry's proposal, a new Korea Armed Forces Academy would admit cadets for all three services through a unified selection process. Cadets would receive common education during their first two years before moving to service-specific training in their junior and senior years.

Given the changing character of modern warfare, illustrated by the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, strengthening joint operational capabilities is clearly a legitimate goal. A similar proposal surfaced after the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island during the Lee Myung-bak administration as a way to improve interservice cooperation. Efforts to reform the military structure in pursuit of a more capable fighting force should not be dismissed.

Yet opposition within and outside the military is substantial. Rather than treating it as simple resistance and pressing ahead, the government should conduct careful reviews and broad consultation. If the pursuit of jointness comes at the expense of each service's professional expertise, the consequences could prove irreversible.

Critics also argue that the initiative stems less from strategic military considerations than from political ones. Some defense experts suspect it is intended to erase the legacy of the Korea Military Academy following allegations that its graduates played leading roles in the Dec. 3, 2024 martial law declaration. Unless such doubts are addressed, the integration effort is unlikely to gain broad support.

The same principle applies to the other two priorities identified by Ahn: transferring wartime operational control, or Opcon, and restructuring the military intelligence system.

North Korea continues to heighten security threats by modernizing not only its nuclear and missile capabilities but also its conventional forces. At the same time, the security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula is changing rapidly amid intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and closer alignment among North Korea, China and Russia.

At such a moment, the Defense Ministry's foremost responsibility should be strengthening South Korea's military capabilities and maintaining a robust defense posture. Reforms introduced without rigorous analysis of the security environment and an objective assessment of South Korea's defense capabilities could ultimately weaken, rather than strengthen, national security. The ministry should remember that the ultimate goal of military reform is a stronger armed forces and begin by building broad public and professional consensus.