MOBILUS

The government has pledged to expand investment in civil–military technology cooperation projects and to honor individuals who have achieved outstanding results in this field.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 16th that it jointly hosted the “2025 Civil–Military Technology Cooperation Project Performance Presentation” with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The performance presentation has been held annually since 2012 to promote and disseminate exemplary outcomes of civil–military technology cooperation.

At the awards ceremony held during the event, Ministerial Commendations from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy were presented to Shin Dong-hwan, Principal Researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, for developing cooling technology for high-heat-generating equipment such as lasers; Jung Han, CEO of i3system, for developing the world’s first ultra-compact, high-resolution uncooled infrared detector; and Lee Seong-geun, CEO of Hanji IS, for developing localization technology for high-performance ground bodies used in 30-meter-class parachute drop training.

Commendations from the Commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration were awarded to Park Seung-su, CEO of Sonatech, for developing sonobuoys—acoustic detection devices for submarine detection—and to Choi Sung-gyun, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Research Center at Mobirous, for developing an autonomous driving control system for tractors using military autonomous driving technology.

At the subsequent Civil–Military Business Forum, participants announced plans for next year’s civil–military technology cooperation projects, as well as research and development directions for new projects focusing on core technologies for manned–unmanned integrated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems.

The Civil–Military Technology Cooperation Project, which began in 1999, is a representative pan-governmental collaboration initiative that has established itself as an innovation platform enhancing both Korea’s technological security capabilities and industrial competitiveness by breaking down barriers between defense and industry.

Last year, sales generated by companies participating in civil–military projects reached 190.2 billion won, representing an increase of approximately 121% compared to 86 billion won in 2020. Over the past five years, the commercialization rate has remained high at 75.3%.

Lee Sun-hye, Director of the Advanced Civil–Military Innovation Support Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, “As demand grows for the advancement of the defense industry through the convergence of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, the importance of dual-use technology development—where civil and defense technologies have strong mutual spillover effects—is increasing. We will continue to expand investment in civil–military technology cooperation projects to support Korea’s leap toward becoming one of the world’s top four defense powers.”