First Combined Commissioning Ceremony Held for Army, Navy, and Air Force Academies

558 New Officers Commissioned... Seen as Move Toward Integrated Service Academy

A total of 558 new officers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been commissioned. The first-ever combined commissioning ceremony for the Korea Military Academy, Korea Naval Academy, and Korea Air Force Academy is being held on the 20th at the main parade ground of Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province.

Photo of the 2023 combined commissioning ceremony for ROTC officers. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 20th, about 2,000 people, including the new officers and their families and relatives, are scheduled to attend this year's commissioning ceremony to celebrate and encourage the newly commissioned officers. Some observers interpret the decision to hold a combined commissioning ceremony starting this year as being in line with the Lee Jaemyung administration's national agenda of promoting an integrated service academy for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Last month, a joint public-private-military advisory committee also recommended to the Ministry of National Defense that a new Korea Armed Forces Academy be established and that the existing Army, Naval, and Air Force academies be integrated under it as individual colleges. There has been a precedent in which the commissioning ceremonies of the three service academies and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) were held together.

This combined commissioning ceremony is being held under the slogan, "At the Forefront of Defending the Nation, United Toward the Future!" It is expected to showcase the firm resolve of the newly commissioned officers that a unified Army, Navy, and Air Force will steadfastly defend the Republic of Korea and faithfully fulfill the mission of the Armed Forces as "the military of the people."

The event will proceed in the following order: a performance by the integrated honor guard of the Armed Forces, presentation of commissioning orders, pinning of rank insignia, the oath of commissioning, and a proclamation of the "Resolution to Defend the Nation" by the new officers. After the ceremony, a joint celebratory flyover will follow to mark the birth of the new officers.

The top honors awarded to those with the best commissioning records will go to Second Lieutenant Choi Daeseong of the Korea Military Academy, Second Lieutenant Park Jongwon of the Korea Naval Academy, and Second Lieutenant Kim Seokhyeon of the Korea Air Force Academy. Among the new officers are also individuals from families with diverse records of military service, descendants of independence patriots, and people with unique backgrounds.

Second Lieutenant Lee Hyowon of the Army is the great-grandchild of independence patriot Lee Seongsun. Lee's father is Lee Kanghee, who retired as an Army colonel, and his older brother is Army Captain Lee Hyoseok. Second Lieutenant Jeong Yeonje of the Air Force, who majored in aerospace engineering, successfully launched a model rocket powered by a hybrid engine and received the Minister of National Defense Award at last year's 6th Militech Challenge for a method of fault diagnosis and reconfiguration control for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

After completing initial officer training courses by service and branch, the newly commissioned officers will be assigned to front-line units of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, where they will carry out their duties.