Transfer of General Supplies and Military Procurement Tasks from Defense Acquisition Program Administration to Public Procurement Service

Jung Moo-kyung, Administrator of the Public Procurement Service (sixth from the left), and Wang Jeong-hong, Administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (fifth from the left), are posing for a commemorative photo after signing an agreement on the transfer of procurement duties for general supplies and military goods on the 29th. Photo by Public Procurement Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The procurement of general supplies such as meals, clothing, and aviation fuel for military use will be transferred from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to the Public Procurement Service (PPS).

The PPS announced on the 29th that it signed a business agreement with DAPA regarding this matter. According to the agreement, the PPS will take over and be entrusted with the procurement of general supplies from DAPA starting July 1.

Until now, DAPA has procured not only weapon systems but also general supplies such as military meals and clothing on its own. However, the need to transfer the procurement of general supplies to strengthen the expertise in defense acquisition has been continuously raised during this process.

Accordingly, PPS and DAPA promoted the transfer of general supplies procurement as a core project of 'Defense Reform 2.0' and reached a final agreement to transfer the relevant tasks through consultations with the Ministry of National Defense and other related ministries.

Based on the agreed content, the agreement includes ▲timing of entrustment ▲scope of entrustment ▲handover plans ▲joint T/F operation for follow-up measures. Through this, the PPS will take on the role of procuring general supplies for military use worth approximately 1.4 trillion won (based on last year's contracts covering about 3,000 items).

Specifically, from July 1, the PPS will perform procurement decisions, cost estimation, and execution of the defense budget, which were previously carried out by DAPA.

However, to minimize inconvenience to contractors, items contracted before the transfer will be managed by DAPA, and to prevent confusion in the industry due to differences in procurement methods such as the qualification review system, the PPS will apply or adopt DAPA's procurement-related systems for two years after the transfer when conducting contracts.

Items closely related to weapon systems such as ballistic materials or those requiring security precautions, as well as items deemed more efficient for DAPA to procure directly, are excluded from the transfer.

Both organizations also agreed to establish a dedicated defense procurement department within the PPS headquarters to ensure smooth procurement operations, staffed by personnel transferred from DAPA and reassigned PPS employees.

Jung Moo-kyung, Administrator of the PPS, stated, “With the transfer of general supplies procurement for military use, we will do our best to enhance transparency and fairness in the procurement process and improve procurement methods so that high-quality supplies and meals can be stably provided to service members.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.