Army officers have occupied more than 60% of section chief (colonel-level) posts in key Ministry of National Defense departments continuously staffed by active-duty officers over the past 10 years, data showed. Among these Army officers, more than 93% were graduates of the Korea Military Academy (KMA), revealing a severe concentration of KMA graduates.
Army officers also monopolize more than 80% of director-general (major general-level) posts. Among these Army officers, more than 82% were KMA graduates. As KMA-trained Army officers dominate the ministry's key posts, critics say the ministry has become the "Yukbangbu" — a play on words suggesting a "Ministry of the Army" rather than a Ministry of National Defense.
According to data on active-duty officer appointments to section chief (colonel-level) and director-general (major general-level) posts at the ministry over the past 10 years, submitted by the ministry to the office of Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee on the 9th, Army officers hold 10 of the 15 section chief posts continuously staffed by active-duty officers.
A total of 113 active-duty officers have been appointed to these 15 sections. Of them, 74 were Army officers, and 69 were KMA graduates, accounting for 93.2% — a virtual monopoly. By contrast, two officers (2.7%) came from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), two (2.7%) from degree-based officer commissioning programs, and one (1.4%) from the Korea Army Academy at Yeongcheon (the Third Military Academy).
Sections held by Army officers include the public affairs officer in the Spokesperson's Office; the military structure reform officer in the Planning and Coordination Office; the policy planning, North Korea policy, U.S. policy, and North Korea response policy section chiefs in the Office of National Defense Policy; the reserve forces training policy section chief in the Office of Personnel and Welfare; the equipment management and ammunition and transportation management section chiefs in the Logistics Management Bureau; and the planning team leader in the U.S. Forces Korea Base Relocation Project Group.
The Navy and Air Force hold two and five sections, respectively. In both services, only graduates of the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy have been appointed, accounting for 100%. ROTC and degree-program officers have been thoroughly excluded from the key section chief posts held by the Navy and Air Force within the ministry.
Sections staffed by Navy officers include the defense policy section chief in the Office of National Defense Policy and the barracks policy section chief in the Office of Personnel and Welfare. Sections held by the Air Force include the defense management reform officer in the Planning and Coordination Office; the missile and space policy section chief in the Office of National Defense Policy; the welfare policy section chief in the Office of Personnel and Welfare; the defense informatization infrastructure section chief in the Defense Informatization Bureau; and the relocation project section chief in the Military Airport Relocation Project Group.
By contrast, not a single section has been continuously staffed by a Marine Corps officer for 10 or more years. However, a Marine officer was appointed this year to the education and training policy section chief post in the Office of National Defense Policy.
KMA Graduates Monopolize 81% of Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Post
Like the colonel-level section chief posts, the director-general (major general-level) posts — the core of major policy decision-making at the ministry, staffed by active-duty general officers for 10 or more years — total 10 bureaus, of which Army officers control nine. Only one bureau has been staffed by a Navy officer.
A total of 34 active-duty general officers have been appointed to these 10 posts. Of them, 29 were Army officers, and 28 (82.4%) were KMA graduates, showing a severe concentration of KMA graduates. The remaining Army officer was an ROTC graduate (2.9%). Three were Navy officers and two were Air Force officers.
The nine bureaus monopolized by KMA graduates are the director-generals for policy planning, defense policy, North Korea policy, defense reform planning, defense innovation planning, military structure reform promotion, mobilization planning, logistics management, and force policy. The only bureau held by a Navy officer is the director-general for advanced force planning. The Air Force had no bureau of its own at all.
With more than eight out of 10 director-general posts — the core of the ministry's policy decisions over the past 10 years — controlled by Army officers, the Navy and Air Force have been thoroughly sidelined. This is why critics inside and outside the military say the ministry's policy decisions are Army-centric.
Above all, the post of Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy — the most critical deputy minister-level position, responsible for major defense policies — has been filled by 22 appointees to date, of whom 18 (81.8%) were retired Army generals, the largest share. All were KMA graduates. The post is currently held by a former Air Force general.
The remaining four appointees were two Air Force officers (Air Force Academy graduates), one Marine Corps officer (a Naval Academy graduate), and one civilian (who passed the state administrative examination).
"Of the 147 director-generals and section chiefs continuously staffed by active-duty officers at the ministry over the past 10 years, 103 — more than 70% — were Army officers, meaning the Army is effectively deciding major policies including defense policy and weapons acquisition plans," an official of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee said. "The reality is that self-deprecating remarks equating the Ministry of National Defense with the 'Yukbangbu' are inevitable, and this must be corrected promptly."
