The following questions were sent to Mr. Beomyong Go earlier this year to get his perspective on the South Korean Defence and Security sector and the opportunities for international cooperation.
What was your impression of the NEDS 2023? Was there any part of the exhibition or any exhibiting company that stood out to you?
My first impression for the NEDS 2023 was vivid and viral. There are lots of people in the main exhibit hall as well as the opening session hall. All participants were eager to play their roles and enjoyed this event.
As you know, I am an employee of Agency for Defense Development(ADD) in Republic of Korea(ROK) and my counter parts in Netherlands are TNO, NLR, DNW and MARIN. I was interested in all the presentations at the booths of those companies. Since ADD is the sole defense R&D instituted funded by government in ROK, I had focused on the outcomes of defense R&D companies and institutes in Netherlands.
The companies taking part in the PIB naturally want to explore opportunities in South Korea. Are there any parts of South Korean (business) culture that they should keep in mind if they wish to succeed?
One thing they should keep in mind is that defense companies are still under the control of ROK government. Sometimes import and export licenses resulted in critical consequences. So, if they consider they are reaching some mature status of cooperation, then they should keep in mind checking it up the government point of view.
How do you expect the South Korean Defence and Security market to develop in the coming years?
The primitive reason why ROK defense has grown up is the continuous and aggressive threats from North Korea. South Korea is still in between Korean War against North Korea. It means the definition of current status is a ceasefire. In this year, we already experienced that North Korea launched several ballistic missiles. So, ROK government should concentrate on the defense field and it means defense and security market in ROK will keep increasing this year.
Is there a particular part of the Dutch Defence and security sector which is currently of interest for South Korea? For example, are there more opportunities for the maritime sector at present, the land-based sector, the IT sector, or something else? Are there any upcoming projects that might be of interest for Dutch companies looking to cooperate with South Korean companies in the Defence and security sector.
Nowadays, SPACE receives a spotlight as an important defense field in ROK. So, space becomes the fourth domain of Korea defense recently. ADD is focusing on microsatellites for reconnaissance and surveillance. Since Netherlands is one of the countries having some core technologies of space field. I think space will be a good model of cooperation between two nations in the future.
Another candidate can be a cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence(AI). ADD has special interest in AI and prepares international cooperation with advanced countries. Last year, Netherlands and ROK co-hosted the summit responsible AI in military domain in Hage and two nations will co-host again this year in Korea. Since we have strong background of G-to-G cooperation, some derivative projects can be initiated for the cyber security and correct usage of AI in defense field.
What role can the ADD play in fostering cooperation between Dutch and South Korean companies?
From ADD point of view, Netherlands is one of best counterparts with strong capability in defense R&D fields. Especially ADD considers several institutes in Netherlands have world-class capabilities in some important defense R&D fields, such as hypersonic, chem-bio, material, modelling and simulation, wind tunnel test and space, etc. So, ADD signed new information exchange agreements(IEAs) with TNO last year. ADD hopes these IEAs will result in cooperative projects in the near future.