A long-term Army military doctor from a civilian medical school, who recently met with a reporter, made these remarks while pointing out the problems with the military's sponsored medical education program. In particular, since KMA-graduate long-term military doctors effectively monopolize not only general positions but also key colonel-level posts, critics say reform of the military medical corps personnel system is urgently needed.
According to the "Status of Key Post Holders in the Army Medical Corps over the Past 10 Years (2016-2025)," submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the office of Rep. Kang Sun-young of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, on the 25th, every promotion to brigadier general in the medical corps during this period went to a KMA graduate. Not a single non-KMA graduate was promoted to brigadier general.
In the medical corps, two officers were promoted to brigadier general each year from 2016 through last year, totaling 20, but not one civilian medical school graduate reached the rank of general. This has led to criticism that the position of medical corps chief, who commands Army military doctors, has become the "exclusive preserve" of KMA graduates.
Above all, at the colonel level—the pool of candidates for promotion to general—civilian medical school graduates outnumbered KMA graduates by nearly two to one. Over the past 10 years, there were 40 colonel-level military doctors from the KMA and 79 from civilian medical schools. Yet all 20 promotions to general during the same period went to KMA graduates. This is why critics say non-KMA graduates are effectively excluded from promotion to general, with KMA graduates holding a monopoly.
Within this structure, KMA graduates also effectively monopolize the Army medical corps' key posts. Only KMA graduates have been appointed to major positions such as chief of the Blue House medical office, director of health operations at the Armed Forces Medical Command, chief of the Army Headquarters medical office who also serves as medical corps chief, and commander of the Armed Forces Medical Command.
In particular, the commander of the Armed Forces Medical Command—the highest post a military doctor can attain—has been held for the past 12 years, from the 41st commander in 2014 to the current 46th commander, Brig. Gen. Lee Sang-ho in 2026, by KMA graduates who became military doctors without taking the medical school entrance exam.
The so-called "elite career track" a military doctor can follow proceeds through: △ chief of the Blue House medical office (colonel level) △ director of the Armed Forces Seoul District Hospital (colonel level) △ director of health operations at the Armed Forces Medical Command (colonel level) △ chief of the Army Headquarters medical office and medical corps chief (brigadier general) △ commander of the Armed Forces Medical Command (brigadier general).
Notably, at the lieutenant colonel level over the past 10 years, the numbers were comparable—136 KMA graduates versus 147 civilian medical school graduates. But the number of KMA graduates plummets by about 70% upon promotion to colonel. This is because many KMA-graduate military doctors, once promoted to colonel and qualifying for a pension after 20 years of service, retire immediately.
Both inside and outside the military, the dominance of KMA-graduate military doctors in the Army medical corps is attributed to institutional flaws in the military's sponsored education program and KMA-centered personnel practices that thoroughly exclude civilian medical school graduates from key posts.
First, critics point out that KMA graduates who enter medical school through sponsored military education receive faster promotions because their years in medical school count as military service. After completing nine years of education—four years of medical school proper, one year of internship, and four years of residency—and obtaining specialist certification, they are immediately promoted to major.
By contrast, civilian medical school graduates begin their military careers wearing captain's insignia even after completing the nine years of education and obtaining specialist certification. As a result, they fall behind in the minimum service requirements for each rank, and their promotions to major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel continue to lag behind those of KMA graduates who received sponsored education.
On top of that, KMA graduates receive full coverage of their medical school tuition as military-sponsored students, and while commissioned as officers and undergoing medical education, they even collect military pay and accumulate seniority. As a result, from the field-grade ranks onward, the salary gap with KMA graduates widens significantly, and critics say growing numbers of civilian medical school graduates, feeling deprived, are leaving the military.
One military doctor from a civilian medical school said, "Medical schools admit top-ranked students through fierce competition, whereas KMA graduates get in easily through an interview alone, without even taking the medical school entrance exam. Yet they are promoted faster, monopolize key posts and general positions, and enjoy higher salaries—isn't this because of serious problems in the military's sponsored education program and the medical corps personnel system?"
Rep. Kang Sun-young pointed out, "The entrenched monopoly of KMA graduates over the medical corps chief position (promotion to brigadier general) establishes as fact that there is an insurmountable barrier for non-KMA military doctors, and it can cause capable non-KMA military doctors to avoid long-term service." She added, "This leads to increasing difficulty in securing the skilled medical personnel who form the backbone of the military medical system, ultimately resulting in a decline in the quality of medical welfare for service members and a weakening of national defense capabilities."
