Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Science and ICT cooperate to spread the digital new deal and implement smart defense!

- Defence ICT R&D signs MOU for nurturing digital talents -

A cooperative system has been established to implement a digitally strong military and smart defense by spreading the achievements of the Digital New Deal to the defense sector.

On Tuesday, August 17, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) signed an MOU for the implementation of the Digital New Deal and Smart Defense at the MND.

The signing ceremony was attended by Defense Minister Suh Wook and Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook, as well as government-funded research institutes in the ICT and defense fields, and government ICT R&D business institutions.

In the midst of accelerating the promotion of the digital new deal through the Korean version of New Deal 2.0 announced on July 14, this MOU promotes digital transformation in all fields of national defense in connection with such deal, and reinforces its 'pump-priming' role in leveraging digital innovation as a private test bed.

Organization dedicated to supporting defense ICT R&D will be established

In IITP, a specialized ICT R&D institution, the ‘National Defense ICT Support Team’ will be established to set R&D promotion strategies, prepare technology roadmaps, discover and plan new businesses, manage businesses, and support demonstration projects.

New technologies with private DNA (Data, Network, AI) will be first applied to all  defense sectors, for which a ‘DNA-based smart defense strategy (tentative name)’ will be established within the second half of the year, and a new defense ICT R&D project will be promoted.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and software (SW) training for military personnel to be supported.

Soldiers and prospective veterans will be helped to build their AI/SW capabilities while serving in the military, through customized online education for each level, certification, and mentoring for corporate employees. Soldiers will continue to receive career management through follow-up education, employment and start-up support as part of the government's AI/SW talent nurturing project after discharge.

In addition, the two ministries will further strengthen their mutual cooperation in all fields of smart defense innovation linked to the Digital New Deal, including technology exchanges and cooperation on R&D, demonstration and dissemination projects in the field of unmanned vehicles such as drones and robots, promotion of defense cyber security cooperation, and modernization of the scientific boundary systems.