Business Performance of the Korean Defense Industry: Current Status and Future Development Issues

摘要

The Korean government is emphasizing the role of the defense industry in a bid to connect it more firmly with the country's economy as a whole. Following the previous government's policy of developing the defense industry into a new economic growth engine, the current government is seeking to create innovative defense R&D basis and boost new business in the defense industry as one of the key agendas in the defense acquisition program administration. The key of this policy is how to improve the defense R&D system and industrial base through "Openness and Competition," which is contrasted to the past policy strongly based on protectionism. In order to realize this, the Korean government is endeavoring to move toward leading future development. This change of focus will require a comprehensive understanding on business environment and performance of the defense industry. The reality faced by defense companies should also be considered from a more objective perspective. In this context, this paper examines the overall management of Korean defense companies and evaluates the policy implications that can be identified in this regard. The main contents of this paper include an overview of supply base of the defense industry, an outline of the trends and structural characteristics of defense revenues, and analyses of overall management status associated with financial matters; number of workers employed; amount of investments; domestic supply of defense items production; and defense exports. Furthermore, by comparing the changing trends of business indicators, points worth considering in the establishment of the future direction of defense policy have been put forward.