Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu Receives 'Proud Defense Industry Special Contribution Award' at Korea Defense Industry Association

Mayor Heo Seong-mu of Changwon City, Gyeongnam (right), is receiving the "Proud Defense Industry Person Special Merit Award" from the Korea Defense Industry Association. [Image source=Changwon City]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] On the 28th, Heo Seong-mu, mayor of Changwon City, Gyeongnam, received the Special Contribution Award at the '10th Proud Defense Industry Person Award' ceremony held at the Yongsan Army Club in Seoul.

The Special Contribution Award is a special honor given to prominent figures in the defense industry, such as former ADD Director Seo Jeong-wook at the 7th ceremony and former National Defense Committee Chairman Ahn Gyu-baek at the 8th. Mayor Heo is the first local government head to receive this award.

Mayor Heo was recognized for his contributions to the development of South Korea's defense industry through supporting regionally specialized defense companies and promoting innovative projects to revitalize the defense industry, which was a campaign pledge after his inauguration.

Since the launch of the 7th local government in 2018, the city has established a dedicated department to foster the 'Changwon-type advanced defense industry' and has been implementing various projects to support defense companies.

Last year, the city focused on promoting the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's first domestic region-specialized defense innovation cluster pilot project, dedicating great effort to nurturing the defense industry.

Additionally, to assist companies facing deteriorated export conditions due to COVID-19, the city hosted the '2020 Yi Sun-sin Defense Industry Exhibition' and the '2021 Defense Parts and Equipment Exhibition' to support the activation of defense exports.

Mayor Heo said, "I hope Changwon City's small but continuous efforts become a light that brightens the bright future of South Korea's advanced defense industry."

Meanwhile, the Korea Defense Industry Association, founded in 1991 as a corporation to contribute to the development of national defense and the defense industry through establishing defense industry theories, technical information systems, and developing and distributing academic materials, is the largest academic society in Korea boasting the top members in the defense industry field.

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