Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul said on Sept. 16 that he has "the will to reform" the country's military academies, while adding that the current plan to merge the army, navy and air force academies has "parts that need to be supplemented."
Kang made the remarks at a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, responding to a question from Rep. Min Hong-chul of the Democratic Party of Korea. The academy merger is a policy task of the Lee Jae-myung administration, and the Ministry of National Defense recently unveiled a basic plan to establish a four-year Armed Forces Academy at Jaun Base in Daejeon by combining the three service academies.
Kang called the merger "an extremely important matter for nurturing outstanding talent going forward," but said of the current plan, "In my view, it is not complete," pledging to review it further. "There are various ways to pursue integration. There are diverse opinions, and they are not wrong," he said. "I will listen to those views, draw up a good plan and explain it to you as well."
On the transfer of wartime operational control, Kang said it is "something successive governments have consistently pursued," adding, "I believe our conditions have now been considerably strengthened and the groundwork has been laid." He was more cautious on the question of deploying troops to the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "a matter that must be approached in terms of the safety of the people and the national interest."
On allegations involving real estate holdings by himself and his family, Kang said, "As a nominee for defense minister, I feel apologetic to the public that real estate matters have come up at this hearing," while stressing that his conduct involved no legal violations. Kang faces allegations that he registered a false address in Cheonwang-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, to gain eligibility for a special housing-supply program for displaced residents, which he later used to purchase a new apartment in Seocho-gu, and that his eldest son borrowed about 700 million won ($504,000) to purchase property that was omitted from asset disclosures.
Regarding his receipt of compensation for displaced residents in 2008 for the Cheonwang-dong home, which allowed him to buy a newly built apartment in Seocho-gu, Kang said, "It is where I was born and raised, and it is a house I designed and built intending to live in until after my discharge from the military." He added, "But the land and the house were expropriated by the government, and I received compensation through normal procedures in line with government policy." Asked about registering his residence at the Cheonwang-dong home in March 2008, while living in Gangwon Province and shortly before being designated eligible for displaced-resident compensation, he said, "I do not remember why I moved my address at that time," explaining, "You move often during a military career, and that was one of those situations."
On his eldest son's purchase of a commercial unit at an apartment complex in Bundang with about 700 million won borrowed from an aunt and uncle, Kang said, "As a ministerial nominee, I am sincerely sorry for falling short of the public's expectations," while adding, "It is difficult for a father to intervene in every detail of the economic life of a 30-year-old son."
