Byun Moo-keun, commissioner of Defense Acquisition Program Administration

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

The chief of South Korea's weapons procurement agency pledged pan-government efforts to help boost the nation's defense exports and turn the local industry into a national growth engine.

In an interview with The Korea Times on the occasion of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2009, Byun Moo-keun, commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said South Korea will play a pivotal role in establishing an extensive network of cooperation on arms procurement and development, as well as overhauls of weapons procurement methods, among Pacific Rim nations.

DAPA will open the third DAPA International Acquisition Conference (DIAC) today at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul, on the sidelines of the biennial defense exhibition, known as the Seoul Air Show.

About 30 procurement chiefs from 20 nations will attend the two-day conference to share their views on ways of developing the global arms acquisition process and cooperation among the countries concerned. Below is the transcript of the interview:

Question: How do you expect the Seoul ADEX 2009 to affect the country's arms sales overseas?

Answer: The Seoul ADEX 2009 is the first consolidated defense exhibition here that combines the aerospace exhibition from the Seoul Air Show and the Defense Asia, a fair of ground weapons systems.

The two defense exhibitions were previously held separately and the sale of our defense exhibition used to be small, compared to large and international defense exhibitions in other nations, such as the Paris Air Show and the DSA of Malaysia. So it was very difficult to invite overseas defense companies, VIPs and buyers.

Local defense companies participated in the separate defense exhibitions and the cost of participation was also a burden to them.

However, this Seoul ADEX 2009 is held on a large scale in the international level. The Korean government, each service and local defense companies have concentrated their efforts to make the event a place to internationally market Korean defense goods.

Accordingly, I am looking forward to it.

Compared to the 2007 Seoul Air Show, the number of VIP participants in the Seoul ADEX 2009 increased from 40 people of 32 countries to 81 people of 47 countries. So, we have a lot of opportunity to meet them to promote our good weapon systems.

We are also providing guests with opportunities to see the demonstration of ground weapon systems, such as the K21 Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the K-9 self-propelled howitzer, as well as visit facilities of defense firms. Therefore, the effect of export marketing will be maximized.

Q: What's your expectation of this year's defense exports and future sales?

A: Last year, the amount of defense exports exceeded $1 billion for the first time. This year we set a goal to export up to $1.2 billion dollars, which would be an increase of 20 percent compared to last year.

In order to achieve the goal, we designated the T-50 supersonic trainer jet and the K-9 self-propelled howitzer as key export items.

Given that arms sales have already hit $830 million as of September, we expect to reach our goal with some more contracts later this year.

The DAPA is seeking to establish a system for export assistance and to strengthen international cooperation for maintaining the current continuous increase of defense exports.

To that end, we set up a government council to help meet the requirement of customer nations and deal with urgent problems.

Recently, we opened the Defense Products Trade Assistance Center in the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on Oct. 15, 2009. The center will provide substantial assistance to the defense industry regarding government-to-government contracts, offset programs and industrial cooperation plans in weapon sales overseas.

Furthermore, the DAPA has increased the number of partner nations of its defense cooperation committee to 25 countries, in an effort to strengthen the global partnership.

If these pan-government efforts are made as planned, I believe the goal to become a top 10 defense exporter country in the world by 2012 could be achieved.

Q: What's the prospect of the sale of the T-50 trainer jet?

A: I think the export of the T-50 could be an important turning point in the development of the national aerospace and defense industry. Potential customers include Singapore, Poland, Israel, Iraq and the United States.

At the moment, we are negotiating a contract price with Singapore after submitting a proposal in July of 2009 and are marketing to other countries concurrently.

Regarding the requests by Poland and Israel on industrial cooperation and direct investment, our government is doing its best to prepare for an alternative. Especially, in order to acquire the price competitiveness of the jet, we are currently discussing ways of cutting down the production cost.

If cooperation and efforts between Korea Aerospace Industries and the government are made successfully, we could see the T-50 flying all over the world in the near future.

Q: What is the main topic of this year's International Acquisition Conference?

A: The 2009 DIAC will be held under the theme of ``Transformation in Defense Acquisition.'' It has three sessions ― ``Defense Acquisition Reform Policy,'' ``Defense Acquisition and Core Technology'' and ``Defense Green Growth and Innovation.''

Especially, in connection with ``Low Carbon Green Growth,'' which the government is driving forward, the possibility of future green growth investment will be discussed in the conference.

I think, in terms of scale and the number of speakers, this conference is the most influential defense meeting in the Pacific Rim area. A total of 35 speakers from 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Chile, will give their presentations.

Based on the conference, I think we can lay a solid foundation for establishing a network for international acquisition in the region. The conference will also help promote South Korea's defense industry and its advanced arms procurement systems to other partner nations.

Q: In what direction do you think South Korea's defense acquisition system should go in the future?

A: When the DAPA was established in 2006, an integrated program management system was introduced. That means, we already set the foundation for developing an advanced procurement system.

However, we have to strengthen transparency, effectiveness and specialty of defense program and to reform the system continuously to improve the competitiveness of the defense industry.

First of all, in order to make scientific and efficient program management possible, we will prepare for an economic acquisition plan to enlarge the application of advanced program management technology, calculating reasonable program cost, and driving forward international cooperative R&D.

Also, in order to support and promote small businesses playing a key role in the domestic spare parts industry, we will encourage and support the participation of small businesses and make continuous efforts to locally develop foreign spare parts.

We will also activate defense R&D, supporting the national vision of ``low carbon green growth'' by developing a ``green defense technology.''

Meanwhile, in order to meet the national demand of reducing the defense budget and eradicate any irregularities in arms sales, we will create a system to buy foreign defense products without agents and reform the cost management system.

To help remove unfair and fraudulent activities, such as the submission of defective cost data, we have a plan to reform the contract management system and establish a strict legal restriction system similar to the one being used in advanced countries.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr