Government Agencies All Rush to Contribute to Defense Industry... Only Defense Companies Suffer

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Defense industry companies are struggling with the expansion of government agencies related to defense. They claim that instead of establishing policies for the defense industry, these agencies only engage in “spoon-feeding style” promotions when there are achievements such as defense exports, which does not help the defense industry.

On the 19th, a defense industry insider said, “Every time government agencies hold defense exhibitions or seminars, they participate out of ‘mandatory defensive participation’ that is unrelated to actual sales,” adding, “When agencies host various meetings, they often call employees to remote locations, wasting time.”

The Defense Technology Quality Institute (hereinafter referred to as DTQI) amended its articles of incorporation in December 2020 and decided to establish an affiliated research institute. At that time, the chairman of the board who amended the articles was former Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) chief Wang Jeong-hong. On January 1 of the following year, the Defense Technology Promotion Institute (hereinafter referred to as DTPI) was established, and the DAPA chief appointed former DAPA Firepower Business Division head Lim Young-il as the inaugural director through an open recruitment process.

Even within DTQI at the time, there were complaints such as “Is it necessary to establish an affiliated research institute to divide DTQI’s work?” The industry also expressed concerns, saying, “Regarding the DTPI director position, a parachute appointment related to key figures in the current government will come,” and “Ultimately, it is just about taking care of DAPA’s own people.”

Immediately after its establishment, DTPI hosted the ‘2021 Changwon Defense Industry Parts and Equipment Expo.’ It also held a seminar on the development of power support systems.

Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) related to defense continued. These include an MOU with the Korea Testing Laboratory for ‘Testing and Evaluation Work in the Defense Sector’ (June 2021), an MOU with KOTRA for ‘Defense Export Support’ (August 2021), a multilateral MOU with the National Science and Technology Council (NST) for cooperation in defense R&D (August 2021), an MOU with the Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Development Institute for ‘Intellectual Property Strategy Establishment in Defense R&D’ (September 2021), and an MOU with the Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR) for ‘Testing and Evaluation Work in the Defense Sector’ (October 2021). Judging by the content of these MOUs, DTPI’s involvement spans almost the entire defense industry.

DTPI also promoted that it has published the ‘World Defense Market Yearbook’ for 11 consecutive years since 2011. However, the yearbook was published by DTQI until last year. When the Technology Planning Headquarters of DTQI moved to DTPI, it was packaged as if DTPI had published it for 11 years.

A DTPI official said at a regular briefing, “The export figures mentioned in the yearbook’s press release were cited from other already published news reports.” This means the yearbook was published based on media reports rather than independent market research and analysis.

A government official said, “DTPI’s corporate registration number is the same as DTQI’s,” adding, “Since DTPI is not registered as an independent institution, there are concerns that it appears to be an agency handling all tasks related to defense companies.”