Materials, Parts, and Equipment 'Military Service Designated Companies' to Appear... Strengthening Competitiveness

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] From the second half of this year, materials, parts, and equipment companies (So-Bu-Jang) will have the opportunity to be selected as military service designated companies. By allowing holders of master's or doctoral degrees in science and engineering to be utilized as specialized research personnel, the competitiveness of domestic So-Bu-Jang companies is expected to be further strengthened.

According to the "Application Announcement for Selection of Military Service Designated Companies in the Second Half of This Year" announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 11th, So-Bu-Jang companies and excellent corporate research institutes will receive additional points when applying for military service designated company status.

If selected as a military service designated company, holders of master's or doctoral degrees in science and engineering among military service resources can be employed as specialized research personnel. Small and medium-sized enterprises, which find it difficult to hire high-level talent, prefer to be selected as military service designated companies to strengthen their human competitiveness.

Starting this time, additional points will be granted to So-Bu-Jang companies, which is expected to enhance their competitiveness. Companies among So-Bu-Jang that have received a "Specialized Company Certificate" according to relevant laws can receive additional points. The government also allowed research institutes designated as excellent corporate research institutes to receive additional points.

In particular, the government has allowed research institutions already selected as military service designated companies in the first half of this year to apply again in the second half to recruit necessary personnel. The application targets have been improved so that all types of research institutions, including research institutes affiliated with small and medium-sized enterprises and venture companies, research institutes affiliated with medium-sized companies, and other natural science research institutions, can apply according to the selection criteria.

Applications are accepted until the end of this month, and evaluations will be conducted over one month. The Ministry of Science and ICT will assign evaluation grades to the applying companies and recommend the selected companies to the Military Manpower Administration. After conducting a field survey, the Military Manpower Administration will make the final selection of military service designated companies in November.

Kang Sangwook, Director of the Future Talent Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "The specialized research personnel system is significant as it supports companies and research institutes conducting research and development activities to utilize excellent science and technology talents," adding, "In the difficult economic situation due to COVID-19, I hope the specialized research personnel system can serve as an opportunity for more companies to leap forward based on science and technology."

The application announcement for the selection of military service designated companies in the second half of this year can be found on the Korea Industrial Technology Association's Specialized Research Personnel website.

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