S. Korean military cadet graduates from Royal Military College Sandhurst

A Korean Military Academy (KMA) cadet has become the first Korean to graduate from the Royal Military College Sandhurst (RMAS), whose cadets included former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

According to the Korean Embassy in the U.K. and the KMA, the 79th-class cadet Song Hyun-jae graduated from the RMAS on Friday (local time). Among the graduates were Song and other 135 cadets from the U.S., Hungary and Thailand as well as the U.K. Song will return to South Korea and complete his last year at the KMA.

The RMAS, located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, was founded in 1947 for the purpose of training military officers. It produced prestigious figures, including Sir Winston Churchill, U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace and Prince Harry. After hearing the news, Queen Elizabeth ll reportedly wondered why there has not been a South Korean RMAS graduate until now and said she expects Song to play an important role of bridging South Korea and the U.K.


Eun-Taek Lee nabi@donga.com