Graduation from the Korean Military Academy and Military Service: 1962-1979
Cadet Period at the Korea Military Academy (1962-1966)
- Life as a cadet, faculty department activities, summer military training, and frontline field training.
Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant Period (1966-1969)
- Basic military course, platoon leader, battalion staff officer, and Taekwondo instructor in Vietnam.
Captain Period (1969-1974)
- ROTC instructor, company commander, advanced military course, and division operations officer.
Major Period (1974-1979)
- Regiment operations officer, training officer, student at the Army College, and staff officer at Army Headquarters.
Lieutenant Colonel Period (1979-1987)
- Study abroad in the United States, staff officer at Army Headquarters, and professor at the National Defense University.
Summary
In March 1962, I officially became a cadet at the Military Academy. The cadet life was carried out under strict discipline, managed by the Cadet Corps and the Faculty Department. Of the 250 cadets who enrolled in the 22nd class of the Academy, 181 were honorably commissioned as second lieutenants in February 1966.
The commissioning marked a new beginning. After completing the basic military training at the Army Infantry School, I was assigned to an infantry regiment in a frontline division. I served as a platoon leader and battalion staff officer, and in December 1967, I was dispatched to Vietnam as a Taekwondo instructor, where I taught Taekwondo to Vietnamese combat personnel.
I returned to Korea in June 1969, was promoted to captain, and was appointed as an instructor for the ROTC program at Seoul National University, where I trained officer candidates for 18 months. I was then assigned as a company commander in a frontline unit, and I carried out my duties diligently for nearly two years. After attending the advanced military course at the Army Infantry School, I was appointed as an operations officer in the Operations Department of a frontline division, gaining practical experience in the field of operations.
Upon being promoted to major, in July 1974, I was assigned as the operations officer of an infantry regiment in a frontline division. After my term ended, I was appointed as a training officer at the 3rd Military Academy, where I dedicated myself to cadet training. In 1977, I entered the Army College and completed a year of education. I was then appointed as a personnel management officer in the Personnel Division at the Army Headquarters, where I felt the need to further develop my abilities.
I was promoted to lieutenant colonel and, in September 1979, I went to study in the United States, where I completed a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Economics over the first three years. However, I returned to Korea without completing my doctoral dissertation in Economics after another three years of study. Unfortunately, I was passed over for promotion to colonel, and I retired from the military in 1987.
I had entered the Military Academy with the desire to become a soldier and served faithfully as an infantry officer, gaining experience and building my career. As a lieutenant colonel, I pursued further education to develop my capabilities, but my lack of field experience as a soldier hindered my competitiveness. While striving to overcome my shortcomings, I gradually became more immersed in the academic world, and eventually, I deviated from the path of a professional soldier.
