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The graduation and commissioning ceremony for the 78th class held at the Naval Academy in Jinhae in March 2024 carries a special story. Unlike previous commissioning ceremonies, all 144 newly commissioned naval officers held their graduation without commissioning rings. That's because their commissioning rings were stolen (?).
According to Seoul Economic Daily's reporting compiled on the 4th, the 78th class of the Naval Academy signed a contract worth tens of millions of won with Company A to produce their commissioning rings ahead of the graduation and commissioning ceremony. As graduation approached, the cadets trained hard while eagerly counting down to the delivery date. But the cadets held their graduation without wearing their commissioning rings, because the head of the company that had signed the contract disappeared.
The head of Company A, a firm specializing in commissioning ring production, took the tens of millions of won in advance payment and vanished. The cadets filed a fraud complaint against the head of Company A. Police immediately issued a wanted notice and eventually caught him. In the police investigation, the head of Company A reportedly pleaded for leniency, saying that the company's finances had deteriorated and he had been unable to produce the several hundred 18K gold commissioning rings contracted with the cadets.
The head of Company A promised the police and the Naval Academy cadets that he would produce and deliver the commissioning rings without fail, and the cadets decided to show leniency and withdrew the complaint. Even so, the 78th class of the Naval Academy has reportedly still not received its commissioning rings. Under a contract to make several hundred 18K gold rings for hundreds of millions of won, the 78th class had prepaid Company A tens of millions of won in down payment and interim payment.
A military official said, "The 78th class accepted it after the head of Company A pleaded for leniency in the police investigation, saying he would produce and deliver the commissioning rings, but they still have not received them," adding, "I understand they are considering legal procedures against the head of Company A, including recovery of the contract payment and claims for damages."
Commissioning rings are ordered collectively to commemorate being commissioned as new officers (second lieutenants), and are called "commissioning rings" or "graduation rings." They symbolize the meaning, honor and pride of setting out as an elite officer of the Republic of Korea.
Prices vary depending on the amount and purity of the gold and the type of gemstone. The 82nd class of the Korea Military Academy, commissioned this February, paid around 2.5 million won for their commissioning rings (3.5 don of 18K gold), and the Naval and Air Force academies, as well as ROTC officers and officer candidate school officers, produce their commissioning rings at a similar price range.
