Sales at Chungnam Defense Venture Center partner firms top 1 trillion won, employment jumps 10%

[Financial News, Hongseong = Kim Won-jun] The Chungnam Defense Venture Center, operated by South Chungcheong Province (Chungnam) to support small and medium-sized businesses and venture companies seeking to enter the defense industry, is driving sales growth and job creation at local businesses.
Chungnam Province’s Southern Branch Office said on the 3rd that an analysis of the business performance of the center’s partner firms found that their sales and employment rose by 37.9% and 9.6%, respectively, over the six years after they signed agreements with the center.
Opened in September 2019 at Konyang University in Nonsan, the Chungnam Defense Venture Center is a defense-industry support agency jointly operated by Chungnam Province, Nonsan-si and the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT). As of October this year, the number of partner firms had grown to 121, making it the second-largest of the 13 defense venture centers nationwide.
A follow-up review by the Southern Branch Office of the performance of 79 firms that signed agreements with the center between 2019 and 2025 found that their combined sales rose from 770.3 billion won when they signed to 1.0625 trillion won at the end of last year—an increase of 292.2 billion won (37.9%), ushering in an era of 1 trillion won in sales. Sales grew at 73 firms, or 92% of those analyzed, and five of them saw sales at least double.
The center also helped create jobs. Total employment at the firms analyzed increased by 231, or 9.6%, from 2,412 to 2,643, with staffing rising at 62 firms, or 78% of the total. In addition, from 2020 to 2025, 32 companies in the province were selected for 36 government defense research and development (R&D) projects, securing a total of 104.6 billion won in government funding.
This year, five companies in the province, including Green AI, Wistar, Airbility, To Be Unicorn and S Material, were selected for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s “K-Defense Startup Development Program” and will receive phased support of up to 2.75 billion won per company. Notable results are also continuing in projects led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, including Seracom’s selection for an 8.4-billion-won project to build self-reliance in key materials.
These results are believed to reflect synergies with the geographic and strategic advantages of southern Chungnam, where the Army Headquarters, the Korea Army Training Center (KATC), Korea National Defense University and other military headquarters and related infrastructure are concentrated. Tailored administrative support has also been cited as a key factor in lowering barriers to entry into the defense industry for small and medium-sized businesses, which often struggle to identify military demand and develop viable sales channels. This support connects them directly with military end-users through events such as Army-Navy technology exchanges.
Myeong No-cheong, head of Chungnam Province’s Southern Branch Office, said, “The fact that sales and employment at partner firms have both increased shows that the Defense Venture Center’s support is translating into real business growth.” He added, “We will carefully examine challenges in the field and do everything we can to support more companies in the province as they grow into leading players in the K-defense industry.”
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter