Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo: "Yoon Promises Increased Budget for Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Move to Daejeon... Accelerating Early Relocation"

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] As the government supports the relocation of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to Daejeon, the timetable for the agency’s move is also expected to accelerate.

According to Daejeon City on the 23rd, President Yoon Seok-yeol recently promised Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon an increase in the budget for DAPA’s relocation to Daejeon and the priority transfer of task force (TF) personnel for the agency’s move.

The key points of the promise include increasing the initial budget for design costs and other expenses for DAPA’s relocation from the originally planned 12 billion KRW to 21 billion KRW, and prioritizing the transfer of about 300 TF personnel to Daejeon early next year.

This information was directly conveyed by President Yoon to Mayor Lee. The mayor explained, “President Yoon personally called to express his intention to swiftly promote the relocation of DAPA, which was a campaign pledge during the presidential election,” adding, “With the president taking the lead to finalize DAPA’s move to Daejeon, the DAPA relocation TF will be housed in the Korea Racing Authority building located in Wolpyeong-dong, Seo-gu, recommended by the city, and will proceed with the procedures for the agency’s relocation.”

So far, Gyeongnam Changwon and Chungnam Nonsan have also participated in the competition to attract DAPA. In particular, Nonsan, with its dense military-related facilities such as the Army Training Center, the Korea National Defense University, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters, became a dark horse in the bid to attract DAPA to Daejeon.

However, with President Yoon supporting the relocation of DAPA to Daejeon, it is expected that the city will be able to firmly secure the agency’s move.

As the relocation of DAPA to Daejeon becomes a foregone conclusion, attention is also focused on the final office space. The current candidate sites include vacant land within the Government Complex Daejeon in Seo-gu, Daejeon, and the Ansan Advanced Defense Industrial Complex to be developed in Ansan-dong and Oesam-dong, Yuseong-gu.

Among these, the most likely candidate is the vacant land within the Government Complex Daejeon. Since the Ansan Advanced Defense Industrial Complex has not yet been completed and there are issues related to the lifting of the greenbelt in the area, the timing for DAPA’s relocation there is expected to be relatively delayed.

A senior city official hinted, “Within DAPA, there is some preference for the Ansan Advanced Defense Industrial Complex as the relocation site,” but added, “However, since it is difficult to specify the timing of the move to Ansan Advanced Defense Industrial Complex, the current realistic judgment is to relocate DAPA to the vacant land within the Government Complex Daejeon.”

Along with the issue of DAPA’s relocation, President Yoon is also reported to have expressed his determination to foster Daejeon as a core city for aerospace research and development (R&D).

Mayor Lee said, “President Yoon expressed his intention that Daejeon cannot be excluded from the development of the aerospace sector and that he will nurture Daejeon as a core research city in this field,” adding, “He also mentioned that the government is discussing Daejeon’s visible role in this regard.”

He emphasized, “The city plans to focus on the procedures for the early relocation of DAPA to ensure the president’s will is implemented, while also concentrating on establishing independent development strategies for key industries such as aerospace, nano, bio-health, and defense.”

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