Shift in Seoul’s Defense R&D

Shift in Seoul’s Defense R&D

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Perara of the Marine Warfighting Laboratory guides a robot during the Department of Defense Lab Day at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., May 14, 2015. (Department of Defense photo by EJ Hersom)

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

A new legislation is expected to turn South Korea into an independent state in military technologies and to help the country prepare for “rapidly changing future battlefields featuring Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies,” Seoul’s Defense Acquisition minister Wang Jung-hong said.

South Korea’s National Assembly has approved new legislation to “transform” the country’s approach to defense research and development (R&D). The Defense Science and Technology Innovation Promotion Act is expected to be promulgated within one year, following approval by South Korea’s Cabinet.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the legislation will create an “open defense R&D system” within South Korea in which the private sector, large corporations, and government agencies will work more closely in developing military technologies. New initiatives to support this objective will be “jointly owned” intellectual property and incentives for small companies to collaborate in national projects.

The new legislation will help South Korea “to make rapid technological changes in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to systematically support defense R&D”. It added that the act will “transform defense R&D to [support] innovation and enhance science and technology capability through openness and collaboration”.

The legislation will also award “successful failures” in defense R&D to promote greater levels of innovation, according to janes.com basing on DAPA. This will be supported through a new “performance recognition system” that rewards local companies that invest in developing technologies even if intended results are not immediately achieved because of “technical limitations”.

In February, South Korea and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement to support joint research and development (R&D) in the defense sector, reportedly providing a basis for defense science and technology co-operation through exchanges of information and joint projects. The MOU will allow opportunities for South Korean companies to participate in international R&D projects.