Lee says military academy reform needed to prevent another coup

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a working report by numerous ministries at the Blue House on Aug. 5, 2026. (pool photo)

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday accused the Korea Military Academy (KMA) of being behind all three military coups in the country’s history and criticized it for never being held accountable, arguing that integrating the country’s military academies is necessary to prevent another coup following the Dec. 3 insurrection attempt.The comments drew an outcry from the academy’s general alumni association and opposition People Power Party, which described them as “retaliatory” and “punitive.”Lee signaled a resolute tone when delivering the remarks during a report by the Ministry of National Defense at the Blue House’s state guesthouse on Wednesday.“There has been a controversy over the establishment of a [unified] armed forces military academy,” he commented.“How many times have we had military coups d’état in the Republic of Korea to date?” he went on to ask.“Haven’t we seen cases where separate groups are established to train [officers], with a specific set of officers establishing overwhelming control over the military over a long period of time, carrying out occasional coups and dividing the country, only for no one to take responsibility?” he continued.“Wouldn’t that possibility decrease somewhat if [the academies] are integrated?” he asked.In his remarks, he cited the fact that KMA alumni had spearheaded the previous coups on May 16, 1961, and Dec. 12, 1979, as well as the insurrection attempt on Dec. 3, 2024. He suggested that a unified military academy might reduce the potential for future coups by breaking up the “cartel” established among KMA alumni with different levels of seniority.On July 16, the Ministry of National Defense announced a basic plan for the establishment of a unified four-year armed forces academy at Jaundae in Daejeon, integrating the existing KMA, Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy.“In this country, nearly all the senior generals came out of the KMA,” Lee observed.“Despite the fact that they have carried out no fewer than three military coups d’état to date, destroying the very constitutional order, they still hold an overwhelming position,” he said.“If [the December 2024 insurrection attempt] had succeeded, we might have had a situation like in the old days, with Army captains sitting in rotating chairs and monitoring people from community centers,” he added.Lee went on to direct Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back to proceed “promptly, forcefully, and quickly” with the unified academy’s establishment.In response to some KMA alumni’s contentions that the unified academy’s establishment was a form of retaliation for the December 2024 insurrection attempt, the Defense Ministry had previously stressed that the move was unrelated and meant to prepare for future warfare while bolstering cooperation among the different branches of the armed forces.But Lee’s remarks on Wednesday explicitly identified it as indeed being connected to the insurrection attempt and intended to prevent the possibility of a future coup.The comments drew an outcry from the KMA general alumni association.“Generalizing a very small number of historical aberrations as if it were the responsibility of an entire specific education institution could give the public the impression of political retaliation, and it is not helpful in terms of national security either,” it said in a statement.Rep. Yu Yong-weon, a PPP lawmaker on the National Assembly National Defense Committee, said, “President Lee has revealed the real reason for the integration of the Korea Military Academy, Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy.”“He intends to effectively erase the Korea Military Academy from the Republic of Korea as ‘punishment’ for the Dec. 3 [2024] martial law situation,” he continued.Lee further issued directions to the Defense Ministry to bolster independent defense, restore wartime operational control, and boost military discipline.“Autonomous national defense is our biggest task,” he asserted, adding that South Korea should “also exercise its own military command authority as part of our sovereignty.”The Defense Ministry reported that it was viewing 2026 as “year one” for the operational control transfer, with the objective of nailing down a target year for the shift at the 58th ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting this October.Lee further drew parallels with a fable about military cost-cutting, referencing a story where a cost-saving switch from mulberry arrows to bamboo and reed arrows left a country’s arrow stores empty when war actually occurred.“There has recently been a debate about [soldiers] not having loaded weapons when on guard duty, and that’s part of the trend going from mulberry wood to bamboo and reeds,” he observed.The command of the ROK Army I Corps stationed in northern Gyeonggi Province was relieved of duties after it was learned that soldiers had performed guard duties without live rounds in their weapons.By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter; Shim Woo-sam, staff reporter; Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]