The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the Army's personnel staff office have been at odds over promotions, according to sources. The two sides took different positions on which officers serving at DAPA should be promoted to colonel in 2027, and the dispute has escalated into a confrontation between working-level units at the agency and the Army personnel office.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps announced the results of their 2027 colonel promotion reviews on Sept. 18, according to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on the 19th. The Army, which has the largest force, selected 192 officers for promotion to colonel, followed by 56 in the Air Force, 49 in the Navy and 18 in the Marine Corps. The Army accounted for 61% of those selected, followed by the Navy including the Marine Corps at 21% and the Air Force at 18%.
DAPA and the Army personnel office remain at odds over the number of colonel vacancies for 2027, the figure that determines how many officers can be promoted. DAPA asked the Army to increase the number of slots and was turned down. Officers at DAPA selected for promotion to colonel in 2027 number two from the Army, two from the Navy and three from the Air Force.
As of last month, 470 active-duty officers were serving at DAPA. They included four general officers — two Army, one Navy and one Air Force — 54 colonels and 412 officers at the rank of lieutenant colonel or below. Selected while junior officers, they are designated as acquisition specialists and transfer to DAPA, where they serve until retirement. The DAPA commissioner therefore directs and supervises them, including through job assignments.
By service, Army officers account for about 43% of that total, followed by the Air Force at about 28%, the Navy at about 27% and the Marine Corps at about 2%. Although Army officers make up nearly half the agency's uniformed staff, fewer were promoted to colonel in 2027 than from the Air Force, and the same number as from the Navy. DAPA's view is that Army headquarters is failing to take account of these officers despite their being the largest group at the agency, hurting individual morale and weakening the organization's drive.
Among officers serving at the defense ministry, about 17% of Army lieutenant colonels were promoted to colonel for 2027, and at the Joint Chiefs of Staff the figure was about 14%. For Army officers at DAPA, the rate was only about 6%. Even at the rank below, promotions from major to lieutenant colonel at DAPA for 2027 ran at about 42% for the Air Force and about 28% for the Navy, while the Army was lowest at 24%.
"We are well aware that the military's personnel policy has been shifting toward favoring officers serving in front-line units, and we see that as a reasonable step," a DAPA official said. "But the promotion rate to colonel for officers serving at Army headquarters is also about 11%, and it is an undeniable reality that the rate for Army officers at DAPA, at about 6%, is relatively low."
Inside and outside the military, the conflict between DAPA and the Army personnel office is seen as fundamentally a question of personnel authority. DAPA selects acquisition specialists, assigns them to posts and supervises them until they leave the service, yet the agency's commissioner has no say in their promotions. As a result, the services and DAPA clash over promotion slots whenever the annual personnel season arrives.
The Army said that for Army officers serving at DAPA, "vacancies are determined in accordance with relevant laws and procedures, taking into account authorized strength and manpower operations, and candidates are selected fairly within that range based on a comprehensive review of their records and expertise." It added that "personnel authority over acquisition specialist officers is the exclusive prerogative of the Army chief of staff, and the head of an outside agency cannot intervene."
Some argue that the service headquarters should change their practices so that the DAPA commissioner's preferences can be actively reflected in promotion decisions for officers at the agency. The commissioner decides their job assignments but has no role in promotions, because under current law the authority over military administration, including promotions, rests with each service chief of staff.
The commissioner is, however, allowed to recommend officers at the agency for promotion. Even so, DAPA argues that the small number of promotion slots allotted by the services each year creates a promotion backlog that lowers individual morale, erodes the vitality of the organization as a whole and, above all, disrupts stable management of its acquisition specialist officers.
"For the Korean defense industry to become one of the world's top four, officers serving at DAPA need high levels of expertise and considerable effort," an official on the National Assembly's National Defense Committee said. "To boost the morale of acquisition specialist officers and ensure stable manpower management, the services and DAPA need to cooperate on the basis of mutual respect and trust so that the commissioner's views on promotions can be reflected."
