Defense official urges push for integrated military academy ahead of OPCON transfer

A senior defense ministry official said Wednesday that now is the right time to push ahead with a plan to establish an integrated military academy for the Army, Navy and Air Force to better prepare future officers for the post-wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer era.

"Now is the critical time to build an education system that prepares future cadets for future warfare, whether it takes some 10 years or longer to complete the new military academy," Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defense minister for policy, said at a policy briefing at National Assembly.

"What's more important is whether the current military academy is sufficiently equipped with a system to educate future generations in the event that the OPCON transfer takes place within one to two years ... or within two to three years," Kim said, before adding, "I think it is insufficient." The defense ministry announced the plan last week to establish an integrated military academy at Jaundae, a compound of military training and education facilities in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul.

The new campus is expected to be comp ...