President Lee Jae Myung (center) and first lady Kim Hea Kyung pose for a photo with newly commissioned officers during a joint commissioning ceremony for the Army, Navy and Air Force academies at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province on Feb. 20. (Cheong Wa Dae) South Korea’s ruling bloc on Thursday outlined a plan to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force academies into a single institution in Daejeon, as part of the Lee Jae Myung administration’s wider military reform drive.The move came as the ruling bloc has sought to weaken closed networks within the military following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3, 2024, declaration of martial law, which involved a number of senior officers linked through military academies.At a government-ruling party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, the Defense Ministry and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea agreed to establish a four-year Armed Forces Academy at the Jaun military complex in Daejeon.Under the plan, cadets will live and study together at the academy for four years, receiving both general and service-specific education. Details of how and when they will be assigned to the Army, Navy or Air Force have yet to be decided.The government said bringing cadets together from the start would help foster a shared identity as members of the armed forces and reduce the service-based rivalries that have long affected cooperation within the military.The new academy will be built at Jaun, home to a cluster of military education facilities and located near the headquarters of the three armed services in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province.The government also pointed to nearby institutions such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the Agency for Defense Development, saying they could provide civilian faculty and support exchanges in science and technology.Civilian professors currently make up about 24 percent of the faculty at the three academies. The government plans to raise that share to more than half. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (center) speaks during a government-ruling party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap) The merger is also aimed at cutting duplication as the military and the college-age population shrink.According to the Defense Ministry, the three academies have about 2,900 cadets between them but are supported by roughly 3,000 personnel, including seven generals. The ministry said around 70 percent of their curricula overlap, even though each school maintains its own command, faculty and support structure.Still, key parts of the plan remain undecided, including when the academy will open and how much it will cost.The project will also require legislation establishing the new school. The ministry plans to hold public hearings and release a more detailed road map around October.Officials said the ministry favored launching the new system with an incoming freshman class rather than transferring cadets already enrolled at the three academies.That would allow current cadets to graduate under the existing system and could leave the old and new institutions operating in parallel during a transition period, the officials explained.The ministry is also reviewing how to use the existing campuses and training facilities after their main academic functions move to Daejeon.Officials said some facilities could remain in use for service-specific training or be reassigned to other military units rather than being shut down.The merger could also be the first step in a broader overhaul of officer training.Officials said the ministry would also review the Korea Army Academy, which provides a two-year commissioning course for students with prior college education, along with Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs and other commissioning routes.Regional consolidation of ROTC programs is among the longer-term options under consideration, although no detailed plan has been set. The rendering shows the academy headquarters and separate cadet complexes for the Army, Navy and Air Force within the planned Armed Forces Academy campus in Daejeon. (Ministry of National Defense)