Possibility of President Moon's Absence at Military Academy Commissioning Ceremony

President Moon Jae-in attended the 2018 graduation and commissioning ceremony of the 74th class of the Korea Military Academy.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] This year, President Moon Jae-in's attendance at the Air Force Academy commissioning ceremony has become uncertain. The Blue House has yet to decide on the president's attendance in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia). The Ministry of National Defense is also preparing an unprecedented 'SNS Entrance Ceremony' by downsizing the scale of commissioning ceremonies at each military academy and live streaming them through social networking services (SNS) and YouTube.

On the 12th, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We have given guidelines to each military branch to establish event plans while monitoring the novel coronavirus situation, and the president's participation in the event has not been decided."

The Ministry of National Defense abolished the joint commissioning ceremony that combined officers from all military branches in 2017. President Moon attended only the Army Academy commissioning ceremony in 2018, the following year, and visited the Naval Academy commissioning ceremony last year. By sequence, this year is the turn to attend the Air Force Academy commissioning ceremony.

However, if the novel coronavirus situation worsens, the president may not attend the commissioning ceremony. It could be the first year since President Moon's inauguration that he does not attend the ceremony. Former President Roh Moo-hyun did not attend the Air Force Academy graduation and commissioning ceremony in 2005 due to the National Assembly's impeachment resolution.

Some suggest that the president may attend but the event scale could be reduced. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is also simultaneously considering holding the March 1st Independence Movement Day commemorative ceremony this year without an audience, with only President Moon attending.

The military has, for now, changed the entrance ceremonies scheduled for this month at each military academy from 'invitation events' to 'internal events' hosted by the school principal, with extremely limited external attendance. The Naval Academy ceremony is scheduled for the 14th, the Air Force Academy on the 17th, and the Army Academy and Army 3rd Military Academy on the 21st.

Each military academy entrance ceremony will be live-streamed via SNS and YouTube. Considering that parents and relatives cannot attend the Naval Academy ceremony, it will be live-streamed through YouTube and the academy's own SNS. The Air Force Academy and Army Academy will also hold entrance ceremonies hosted by the school principal without attendance by parents, family, or relatives. The ceremony will be live-streamed through the Defense Media Agency's Facebook page.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.