New Location for Defense Acquisition Program Administration Perfectly in Changwon City... Mayor Heo Seong-mu Calls to Create the World's Leading Advanced Defense Industry Cluster

Linking Geoje Shipbuilding & Marine and Sacheon Aerospace Clusters

On the 28th, Heo Seong-moo, the mayor of Changwon City, Gyeongnam, advocated for the necessity of relocating the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to Changwon.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] On the 28th, Heo Seong-moo, mayor of Changwon City, Gyeongnam, expressed his opinion that "the optimal location for relocating the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is Changwon City, Gyeongnam," in relation to the public institution relocation pledge raised as a campaign promise by the 20th presidential candidates.

Mayor Heo emphasized the necessity of relocating DAPA to Changwon City, stating, "Changwon City, the largest defense industry cluster city in Korea and the first to be selected for the Defense Innovation Cluster pilot project, is innovatively creating a regional defense industry ecosystem and is truly the mecca and leading city of defense industry."

The city claimed that among the 85 nationally designated defense companies, 17 companies, accounting for 20%, are located in Changwon, and as of 2020, it holds 27.3% of the domestic defense sales amounting to 15.4 trillion KRW, which is 4.2 trillion KRW, and 33.5% of defense exports amounting to 1.8 trillion KRW, which is 600 billion KRW, demonstrating the highest national defense industry competitiveness.

It was also reported that defense industry-related research infrastructure such as the Gyeongnam Defense Venture Center, Defense Technology Quality Institute Mobile Firepower Center, Agency for Defense Development Marine Technology Institute and Mobile Test Site, Army and Navy Maintenance Depots, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Gyeongnam Technopark, and Changwon Industry Promotion Agency are located there.

It was asserted that on-site defense large, medium, and small enterprises coexist and are concentrated, including Hanwha Defense, Korea's largest defense system company, Hyundai Rotem, Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Wia, S&T Heavy Industries, and STX Engine, where research and development and production are conducted together.

It was stated that building a defense industry cluster by integrating the Gyeongnam Changwon Defense Innovation Cluster with the nearby Geoje City shipbuilding and marine cluster and Sacheon City aerospace cluster is advantageous for achieving advanced weapons export industrialization and securing new growth engines for the national economy.

Mayor Heo emphasized that if DAPA relocates to Changwon, it will increase the trickle-down effect on local companies through the export industrialization of the defense industry and create jobs through the co-growth of defense-related region-specific materials, parts, equipment, and root industries.

He raised the effects such as ▲improving convenience and pride of local defense companies due to DAPA's location ▲nationwide expansion of the Defense Innovation Cluster pilot project achievements ▲overcoming the limitations of the first relocation of public institutions centered in the metropolitan area and expecting national balanced development ▲strengthening regional competitiveness and enhancing city recognition through population inflow and recruitment of excellent talent.

Mayor Heo Seong-moo said, "By establishing a world-class advanced defense industry cluster, it will be possible to achieve defense modernization and export industrialization," and added, "To secure new growth engines, enhance the competitiveness of global defense companies, and achieve balanced regional development, the relocation of DAPA to Changwon is necessary."

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