Gumi City Hosts National Assembly Forum on Defense Industry Development ... Aiming to Lead K-Defense Industry

Support for Defense Industry Export Commercialization and Proposals for Defense Cluster Development

A Total of 48 Billion KRW Invested Over 5 Years to Establish a Manned-Unmanned Hybrid Innovation Ecosystem

On the 14th, Gumi City in Gyeongbuk held a National Assembly forum at the National Assembly Hall on the topic of ‘Support for Export Industrialization of Gumi Defense Industry and Development Plans for the Defense Industry Cluster.’

Defense Industry National Assembly Forum. [Image source=Gumi-si]

The forum was attended by about 100 people, including National Assembly member Gu Ja-geun, People Power Party leader Kim Ki-hyun, National Defense Committee Chairman Han Ki-ho, Mayor Kim Jang-ho, City Council Chairman Ahn Ju-chan, Korea Defense Industry Association President Chae Woo-seok, and members of the Gumi Defense Industry Association.

In Part 1 of the ‘Continuous Forum on the Promotion and Development Plans of the Defense Industry,’ issues related to recent trends and patterns in defense exports were presented, followed by discussions on ▲support systems for export industry cooperation through legal amendments ▲incentive systems for companies to reinvest technology fees ▲transition from domestic production to fostering the defense parts industry ▲and strategies for the global expansion of defense production bases, focusing on policies to promote the export industrialization of the defense industry.

In Part 2, Dr. Jang Won-jun from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade presented on ▲improvement and support plans for expanding and fostering defense industry clusters ▲plans for building defense industry clusters reflecting regional characteristics ▲the necessity of follow-up projects related to clusters ▲analysis of overseas cases and the creation of a domestic defense ecosystem. The policy directions for the domestic defense innovation clusters (selected in Changwon in 2020, Daejeon in 2022, and Gumi in 2023) were discussed.

The Gyeongbuk-Gumi Defense Innovation Cluster project is a five-year initiative starting in 2023 with a total investment of 48 billion KRW (24.5 billion KRW national funds, 23.5 billion KRW local funds) aimed at fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises related to defense. It focuses on creating an innovative defense industry ecosystem centered on manned-unmanned complex systems. The project has been underway since June with the signing of a memorandum of understanding among the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Gyeongbuk Province, and Gumi City, the opening of the project office, and the first regional council meeting held in July.

The city plans to work closely with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in areas such as ▲establishing an advanced defense industry promotion center ▲developing a specialized roadmap for manned-unmanned complex systems ▲building and operating a defense-specialized development research institute ▲supporting infrastructure for defense-specialized research, testing, and demonstration ▲supporting technology development and commercialization related to new defense industries ▲and supporting defense startups and the entry of excellent civilian companies into the defense sector.

Manned-unmanned complex systems refer to operations conducted by a team consisting of human resources and unmanned weapon systems, representing an intermediate stage from weapon systems to unmanned systems.

Mayor Kim Jang-ho stated, “Along with the successful promotion of the Gyeongbuk-Gumi Defense Innovation Cluster project, we will strive to make Gumi City the capital of K-Defense new industries through support projects to improve the productivity of defense SMEs and efforts to attract national defense anchor institutions,” requesting special interest and support.

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