Gyeongnam Governor Park Wansu Visits Local Defense Companies with President Yoon

Policy Issues Raised at the Defense Industry Export Strategy Meeting

Governor Park Wansu of Gyeongsangnam-do (left) is greeting President Yoon Seok-yeol. [Image source=Gyeongsangnam-do]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] On the 24th, Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, visited three defense industry companies in the province together with President Yoon Seok-yeol.

According to Gyeongnam Province, Governor Park and President Yoon visited Sacheon Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Changwon Hanwha Aerospace, and Hyundai Rotem to tour weapon systems and factory production processes and heard presentations on export performance and prospects from company officials.

President Yoon inspected major South Korean defense exports such as the FA-50, K2 tank, and KF-21, and attended mobility demonstrations to encourage industry workers.

On the same day at Sacheon KAI, the 2022 Defense Export Strategy Meeting chaired by President Yoon was held.

The meeting was attended by Governor Park, Minister of Industry Lee Chang-yang, Deputy Minister of Defense Shin Beom-cheol, Defense Acquisition Program Administration Chief Eom Dong-hwan, National Security Office Chief Kim Sung-han, chiefs of staff of each military branch, and representatives from about 60 defense companies.

At the meeting, President Yoon said, “To secure technological competitiveness capable of developing game-changing weapon systems for future warfare, we must improve the research and investment environment for defense companies and shift the defense industry structure toward export orientation. The government will actively support the defense industry so that it contributes to national security and grows into a leading national industry.”

Governor Park proposed the positions of Gyeongnam and local companies based on field meetings with businesspeople and opinions collected from industry-academia-research experts.

These proposals included ▲ Establishing a Defense Parts Research Institute in Gyeongnam to lead the localization of defense parts ▲ Building a pan-government control tower to support defense exports ▲ Extending the exemption of defense science and technology fees for three years to secure export competitiveness of defense materials ▲ Enacting a separate law on defense contracts considering the special nature of defense acquisition contracts.

Governor Park emphasized, “As the largest cluster of the national defense industry, Gyeongnam can contribute to the advanced strategic industrialization of defense and strengthening export competitiveness as a defense industry mecca. Local governments need to secure various channels to participate in the government’s defense promotion projects and require government-level support.”

The National Security Office Chief and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Chief responded that they would actively review Governor Park’s proposals with the National Assembly and relevant ministries.

Since the launch of the 8th local government administration, Gyeongnam Province has been establishing the ‘Gyeongnam Defense Industry Promotion Comprehensive Plan (2023?2027)’ covering five major areas and 29 detailed tasks including research and development, export support, and infrastructure.

They plan to continue steady cooperation with related ministries to reflect defense policy issues in government policies.

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