Hyundai Rotem said on the 9th that it unveiled a strategy to grow together with partner companies. To that end, it will introduce a performance-sharing program and expand financial support by more than doubling the size of its co-prosperity fund.
Hyundai Rotem on the 6th held the "2026 Hyundai Rotem Defense win-win cooperation conference" at its Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang with 67 partner companies and unveiled a push strategy to encourage and support partners' localization of parts and research and development (R&D) of future advanced weapons.
Hyundai Rotem will first introduce a "win-win performance-sharing program." The program shares with partners the results that contributed to securing export competitiveness when winning new overseas orders. The key is to return to partners 100% and 50%, respectively, of the expense savings from localization in the first year a contract is signed after successful parts localization development and the following year.
It will also expand the "co-prosperity fund" to help partners secure financing smoothly. It will operate at 150 billion won, more than double the previous 70 billion won, and, upon partners' request, support investment and operating funds at low interest rates through amounts deposited with financial institutions.
Hyundai Rotem also signed a three-party memorandum of understanding (MOU) on "win-win growth for Hyundai Rotem partner companies and productive financial support" with partner companies and Shinhan Bank. The move aims to make win-win finance with partners more concrete along with efficient operation of the co-prosperity fund.
Hyundai Rotem will invest a total of 200 billion won over two years through next year in R&D for partners' localization of parts, performance improvements, and development of future advanced weapons. The scope of development support includes next-generation manned and unmanned ground weapon platforms, the aerospace sector, artificial intelligence (AI), and localization and performance improvements of core components for unmanned systems.
It will also expand training for partner employees through the Hyundai Rotem Technical Training Institute. This year, about 5,600 partner employees are expected to take tailored courses at the institute in job areas such as quality, production, and design, as well as AI utilization and work automation.
It will also focus on maintaining the defense ecosystem to prevent the leakage of partners' technology and personnel. Specialized consulting will be provided by diagnosing partners' security management systems through training on simulated hacking and responses to malicious emails, and then offering improvement measures.
In addition, when requesting partners' technical data, the company will systematize the process to pass through a more strengthened security system, and it will add a clause to its code of ethics to prevent the outflow of partner personnel.
To focus on this win-win cooperation effort, Hyundai Rotem reorganized its structure by creating a win-win cooperation office directly under the purchasing division and a win-win cooperation team under it, strengthening communication with partners.
Lee Yong-bae, president and CEO of Hyundai Rotem, said, "At a critical turning point, with the defense market changing rapidly, Hyundai Rotem and partner companies must unite as a community of shared destiny."