Daejeon to Invest 873.6 Billion Won Over Five Years to Build "Advanced Defense Industry City"

Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall Panorama (Photo by Seokbong Mo)

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Daejeon City will invest a total of 873.6 billion won over the next five years, from this year through 2030, to make a full-fledged push to become an "advanced defense industry city."

The city has established a strategy to foster the future defense industry based on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced technologies, and, together with the Daejeon Institute of Science & Technology for Enterprise & People (Distep), has developed the "Daejeon Metropolitan City Defense Industry Promotion Plan (2026-2030)" to strengthen the competitiveness of the defense industry based on innovative technologies.

This plan serves as the second mid- to long-term defense industry roadmap under the "Daejeon Metropolitan City Defense Industry Promotion and Support Ordinance," building on the achievements of the first plan (2020-2024), maintaining policy continuity, and responding to the government's strategy to industrialize the defense sector.

In particular, with the relocation of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the creation of the Ansan Advanced Defense Industry Complex, the plan focuses on establishing an innovative defense industry ecosystem that connects research and development (R&D) with commercialization by expanding key infrastructure.

Daejeon City plans to phase in its defense industry promotion policies over five years, investing a total of 873.6 billion won (780.5 billion won from the national government, 88.9 billion won from the city, and 4.2 billion won from the private sector).

The main goals include: ▲expanding the defense advanced industrial complex to 2.12 million pyeong, ▲cultivating 15 promising defense companies with annual sales of at least 30 billion won, ▲producing eight publicly listed companies in the defense sector, and ▲securing 10,000 specialized research and industry professionals in defense.

To achieve these goals, the city will pursue three core strategies and 11 key focus projects: ▲establishing an AI and advanced technology-based defense innovation ecosystem, ▲enhancing the global competitiveness of defense companies and fostering promising enterprises, and ▲establishing an innovative system based on collaboration among industry, academia, research institutes, government, and the military.

To begin with, Daejeon will create a defense innovation ecosystem through the early completion of the Ansan Advanced Defense Industry Complex, advancement of the defense innovation cluster, establishment of joint civilian-military demonstration testing infrastructure, and support for the development and commercialization of advanced defense convergence technologies tailored to future battlefields.

Additionally, the city will promote startups in the defense deep tech sector, provide customized support for each stage of corporate growth, assist with obtaining global standards and certifications, and expand support for participation in overseas exhibitions and export consulting, thereby strengthening the global competitiveness of local defense companies.

Furthermore, Daejeon will reinforce the control tower function for defense industry cooperation by establishing a dedicated organization, building a collaborative governance system, promoting civilian-military technology cooperation, activating information exchange networks, and supporting the training and recruitment of specialized talent for the defense industry.

The city expects that this promotion plan will enable Daejeon to establish an advanced defense industry ecosystem linked to key future battlefield technologies such as AI, space, and unmanned systems, thereby accelerating regional industrial growth and significantly increasing the creation of quality jobs.

Yoo Sejong, Director General of Daejeon's Future Strategic Industries Office, stated, "Daejeon is a research and development-focused city with extensive government-funded research institutes and a robust science and technology infrastructure, fully equipped to lead advanced defense technologies. We will actively support the development of a defense innovation ecosystem that integrates AI and advanced technologies, enabling local defense companies to grow into globally competitive, promising enterprises."

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