Finance ministry panel meets defense AI firm to weigh export support

The finance ministry's advisory group on strategic industries met Tuesday at Naviworks, a defense artificial intelligence company, to weigh policy measures aimed at sharpening the competitiveness of South Korea's defense industry, according to a ministry press release.

In its discussions, the panel focused on linking defense exports to follow-on logistics support, including maintenance, repair and parts supply, as a way to build trust among buyer countries. Members also examined how to bring innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence into military use. Participants raised the need for wide-ranging policy support for strategic industries, including export financing and assistance for entering overseas markets, as global competition intensifies, the ministry said.

The meeting at Naviworks, which is based in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, drew Kim Sung-soo, a special professor at Yonsei University's College of Engineering who serves as deputy chair of the advisory group; Sohn Dae-kwon, who chairs the defense subcommittee; Min Kyung-seol, the ministry's innovation growth office chief; Won Jun-hee, president of the Defense SMEs and Ventures Association; Kim Ho-sung, a professor of advanced defense engineering at Changwon National University; Park Kyung-jin, head of defense market research and analysis at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses; Kim Ju-han, an executive at Hyundai Rotem; Sim Seung-bae, head of the defense division at the National AI Strategy Committee; and Koo Bon-heung, an executive at Naviworks.

"We will continue the discussions by subcommittee and compile the policy tasks drawn from strategic industries so they can be referenced and used in policymaking," Min said.

Naviworks develops a Korean battlefield command-and-control system that uses artificial intelligence to display combat situations at a glance, a system the military is operating. The company demonstrated the system during the visit.