Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Defense ministry and land, infrastructure and transport ministry conclude MOU on Drone and UAM

Two ministries agree to cooperate on policy making, airspace use, and demand creation; also agree to work together in the use of infrastructures and the new technology demonstration project

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) have agreed to work together for the development of the Drone and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry and the nurturing of strong forces backed by science and technology.

On July 27, the two ministries concluded a memorandum of understanding on the ‘development of drone and UAM’ to advance the future aerospace industry, with Vice Minister of the MND Shin Beom-chul and Second Vice Minister of the MLIT Eo Myeong-so in attendance.

In keeping with the MOU, the two ministries have agreed to cooperate on policy making, airspace use, and demand creation, in order to develop and advance the UAM and K-drone system and the defense transport drone and integrated control system.

The two ministries also agreed to work together in the use of infrastructures, including drone flight test stations and certification and education facilities, and new technology demonstration projects, including UAM, artificial intelligence (AI) applied to drones, and Digital Twin, and also to pursue new technology exchanges.

Significantly, the two ministries shared the assessment that the continued development of the domestic drone industry and the key technology development area to commercialize the 2025 Korean-UAM will be applied to the development of future defense drones and help build the military's strength based on science and technology, and agreed that the MND will play a part in market activation.

Based on this MOU, the two ministries plan to conclude working-level MOUs in each area and continue to build a practical cooperative system, including co-hosting of seminars and workshops, when needed, for efficient bilateral cooperation in the future.

“This MOU will serve as a driver to greatly contribute to swiftly applying the advanced technologies, such as drones and UAM, to the military, and to demonstrate and expand civilian technologies. We will work together to set an example of successful cooperation between government ministries,” Shin said.

Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >

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