Domestic Railway Vehicle Technology Development and Localization "Still Far From Achieving"

Domestic Production Rate Increased by Only 6.1% for KTX and 3.8% for KTX-Sancheon Since Introduction
394.5 Billion KRW Spent on Parts in Last 5 Years... Overseas Dependence Remains

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Despite recent calls to strengthen the domestic self-reliance and international competitiveness of railway vehicle manufacturing technology, it has been revealed that Korea Railroad Corporation's development and localization of railway vehicle parts technology remain distant goals.

According to the National Assembly inspection data submitted by Korea Railroad Corporation to Assemblyman Cho O-seop (Gwangju Buk-gu Gap) of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 3rd, since the transition to Korea Railroad Corporation in 2005, over 16 years, localization development consisted of 6 national research and development projects (10.71 billion KRW), 44 purchase-conditional new product developments (3.661 billion KRW), and 12 commercialization supports (120 million KRW), totaling 62 projects (14.482 billion KRW).

Among these, 51 projects have completed localization development: 5 national research and development projects, 36 purchase-conditional new product developments, and 10 commercialization supports, while 11 projects are still ongoing.

The localization rate of KTX maintenance parts is 7,311 domestically procured parts (64.6%) out of a total of 11,314 items, with 4,003 imported parts (35.4%). Compared to the time of KTX introduction (58.5%), this represents only a 6.1% increase over 16 years.

KTX-Sancheon shows a higher localization rate with 4,642 domestically procured parts (91.6%) out of 5,069 total items, and 427 imported parts (8.4%), which is a 3.8% increase compared to the introduction time (87.8%).

In the past five years, the Railroad Corporation purchased a total of 2,630 items worth 394.5 billion KRW from overseas.

By country, the United States accounted for the largest number of imported items with 985 items (63.5 billion KRW), while France had the highest amount spent at 125.4 billion KRW (741 items). Germany recorded 411 items worth 71.2 billion KRW, and Japan 218 items worth 46.7 billion KRW.

Notably, in 2019, the year of trade restrictions with Japan, nearly half of the imports amounted to 22.6 billion KRW.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to invest 122 billion KRW over six years, together with the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement, to develop 15 types of railway vehicle parts by 2025. However, Korea Railroad Corporation’s research and commercialization performance over the past 16 years in promoting localization of railway vehicle parts has been criticized as poor.

Assemblyman Cho O-seop stated, "Railway vehicles are multi-component industries consisting of 25,000 parts, and localization of railway parts is essential for the development of the domestic railway industry." He added, "Korea Railroad Corporation must expedite research, development, and commercialization focusing on core parts of the next-generation high-speed trains that will replace KTX and KTX-Sancheon."

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