Korea Military Academy

Korea Military Academy or KMA is a Republic of Korea Army institution for the undergraduate education and military training of officer cadets. It is located in Nowon-gu, a northeast district of Seoul, South Korea. The current Superintendent of the Academy is Lieutenant General Park Jong Sun.

Hwarangdae (화랑대, Hanja: 花郞臺) is another name of the academy.

History
Korea Military Academy (KMA) was founded on May 1, 1946 as South Joseon Defense Academy by National Defense Command, the predecessor of Ministry of National Defense of Republic of Korea, under the authority of then-U.S. military administration in South Korea. With the end of Pacific War and the subsequent disbandment of Imperial Japanese Army which had been occupying Korea since 1910, a void of indigenous security force has been created, while the pool of human resource was composed of various backgrounds, including the Imperial Japaneses Army, Manchurian Army, and Korean Liberation Army. As a preparatory measure, the U.S. military administration opened Military Language School in Seoul on December 5, 1945 in order to train military interpreters as well as the new generation of commissioned officers with unified, predominantly American military doctrine.

Following the establishment of South Joseon National Defense Force, the predecessor of Republic of Korea Army, in January 1946, the School closed down on April 30, and South Joseon Defense Academy was founded the next day, taking over 60 cadets from the School and augmented by 28 new officer candidates drafted from line units. Henceforth, May 1 has been recognized as the official foundation day of KMA. Cham-ryeong (current rank of Major) Lee Hyeong-geun was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Academy, and Bu-wi (current rank of First Lieutenant) Jang Chang-kuk was appointed as the Commandant. Following the establishment of South Korean government on August 15, 1948, the National Defense Force was renamed to Republic of Korea Army, and so was South Joseon Defense Academy to Korea Military Academy accordingly.

Campus
The campus is located in Gongreung 2-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.