DAPA to build ‘defense AI hub’ with KAIST, ETRI and LG, revamping the defense industry with private-sector innovation

[Financial News] A hub for industry-academia-research collaboration will be established to drive AI innovation in the defense sector and provide robust support for the growth of small and midsize defense companies. The systematic application of the private sector’s outstanding innovative technologies and R&D infrastructure to defense is expected to accelerate technological advances among SMEs and the creation of a globally competitive defense industry ecosystem.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on the 9th that it had designated three institutions—the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), and LG AI Research—as leading research institutions in artificial intelligence (AI). They will systematically support technological innovation at defense SMEs and venture companies and serve as hubs for industry-academia-research collaboration.
According to DAPA’s announcement, the lead research institutions were selected from among organizations with strong AI-related R&D capabilities, technology and infrastructure. They will support SMEs from technology development through commercialization, helping ensure that private-sector innovations can be reliably applied in the defense sector.
DAPA plans to use the designated institutions to roll out two key initiatives in phases. First, starting this December, it will launch the ‘Defense Innovation Lab’ program, in which lead research institutions and SMEs will work together to develop and demonstrate prototypes of complete weapon systems. DAPA also plans to link this with the ‘Lead Research Institution Support Program’ from 2027, using the institutions’ infrastructure and technology to strengthen SMEs’ R&D capabilities.
Lee Hyung-seok, director general of DAPA’s Defense Industry Promotion Bureau, emphasized, “AI is a key technology for the future of national defense, and close cooperation between research institutions and companies is important to rapidly apply outstanding private-sector technologies in the defense sector.” He added, “With the lead research institutions at the center, we will support SMEs’ technology development and commercialization, promote innovation in defense AI, and build a competitive defense industry ecosystem.”
DAPA’s efforts to build a defense industry ecosystem are seen as putting into practice a ‘spin-in’ strategy—transferring civilian technology to defense—in tandem with ‘spin-off,’ the transfer of defense technology to civilian use, a direction reflected in the weapons-system development strategies of major military powers.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has led the way in advanced technology for modern warfare, has historically pursued a spin-off strategy, extending defense technologies such as the internet (ARPANET) and GPS to civilian use. In recent years, it is understood to have evolved toward a two-way convergence strategy that includes spin-in, rapidly bringing advanced AI and autonomous-driving technologies from private-sector tech giants into defense. This is because civilian technological development is outpacing the military’s weapons-system development cycle.
The South Korean government, too, has consistently pursued policies to break down barriers between defense and science and technology ministries in response to these changes in the security environment. The Civil-Military Technology Cooperation Program, carried out jointly by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Science and ICT, is one example.
DAPA’s designation of the lead research institutions is seen as a step forward because it has established a partnership encompassing not only academia (KAIST) and a public research institute (ETRI), but also LG AI Research, one of the country’s leading private-sector big tech research institutes.
If DAPA’s ‘Defense Innovation Lab’ and ‘Lead Research Institution Support Program’ take root successfully, it remains to be seen whether they can provide a practical breakthrough for defense SMEs and venture companies by addressing the shortage of costly AI computing infrastructure they have faced and helping them overcome barriers to rapidly fielding outstanding technologies as weapon systems while strictly complying with military security requirements.
[email protected] Lee Jong-yoon Reporter