On the 9th, Gyeongsangnam-do revealed that the Gyeongnam Changwon Defense Cluster Council convened its second routine meeting at Gyeongnam Techno Park to address defense industry advancement. 

Members from 20 organizations, such as the Korea Research Institute for defense Technology planning and advancement, participated in the council meeting to discuss the progress of current projects, revisions to operating regulations, updates to the business plan, and future project plans for next year. 

The Defense Innovation Cluster project will be implemented by the DAPA, Gyeongnam-do, and Changwon-si, with KRW 25 billion in national expenditures and KRW 24 billion in local expenditures. 

It is crucial to establish a defense industry cooperation ecosystem that unites the skills of local innovators, including industry, academia, research, military, and government. 

This year, the province streamlined the assessment process for tests by collaborating with defense test partners and facilitated 54 tests for 29 companies using available infrastructure. 

The company is expanding into new markets by building relationships with countries showing potential for defense exports, holding 58 export consultations, and generating export consultation value totaling USD 29.34 million. 

Changwon National University and Kyungnam National University's advanced defense materials and components laboratories have achieved concrete outcomes from their research and development projects, resulting in 19 patent applications, 43 published papers, and one technology transfer. 

In the last two years, the startup support program has found 23 teams of aspiring entrepreneurs in the defense industry and has trained 69 individuals to provide defense companies with skilled professionals. 

Assisted 12 defense startups in the early stages to develop/enhance their products, resulting in the creation of 55 new jobs and the registration and application for 28 patents. 

The seven defense startups that took part this year are expected to generate a total of KRW 19.5 billion in orders and sales.

At the council, this year's enterprise support were introduced, including E-Ray, which was selected as a defense venture support project for developing localized technology for high-voltage power supply devices, and YoungPoong Electronics, which made significant strides in import substitution and localization through successful development of military network switches. 

Ryu Myung-hyun, director of the Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Industry and Trade said, “Due to the nature of the defense industry, the province's own efforts are limited, so it is necessary to expand and develop the cooperation system between the central and local governments.”