A Comparative Analysis on Strengthening the Military Ties of Two Countries: The Case of Turkish and South Korean Military Academies

The Republic of Korea has two military academies; the one with four years education program was established in 1946 in Seul, the other one which has two years education program was established in 1968 in Yeongcheon. The more prestigious of these two is the one in Seul, which is similar to the US West Point Military Academy. To strengthen the historical and cultural ties between Turkey and South Korea, governments signed an agreement related to the student exchange program between two countries’ military academies. Regarding the small number of foreign cadets educated in the Korean Military Academy, it has a great importance for Turkish Military Academy to be a part of such an exchange program with South Korea. Even though these two countries have already been linked to each other with the historical ties, it is really important today to promote Turkey’s soft power in Korea by implementing such a rational policy. Especially establishing relations among the officers of the future, it will be a win-win process for both countries in the end. The main focus of this article is to point out the similarities and the differences of these two military academies, and to try to do a comparative analysis on this topic.

Karadag H., Altınbas, K. Savunma Bilimleri Dergisi/The Journal of Defense Sciences. Kasım/November 2016, Cilt/Volume 15, Sayı/Issue 2, 135-154.