Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said on the 18th that it officially appointed former Defense Acquisition Program Administration defense technology protection bureau chief Kim Jong-chul as its new CEO and president.
KAI held an extraordinary shareholders meeting at its headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on the morning of the same day and approved the agenda to appoint Kim Jong-chul as an inside director. With 62.7% of the total voting shares present, 99.7% of attending shareholders voted in favor.
The new CEO Kim is scheduled to hold an inauguration ceremony on the 19th and begin official duties. The move fills a leadership vacuum of about eight months since former CEO Kang Goo-young stepped down in July last year. Kim is also slated to attend the rollout ceremony for the first mass-produced unit of the Korean fighter KF-21 on the 25th.
Kim, the CEO, graduated with the 31st class of the Air Force Academy and served about 23 years as an Air Force officer before being appointed to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in 2006 through a Grade-4 special recruitment. At the agency, Kim served in a wide range of posts including head of the defense industry export support team, director of offset trade, director of creative innovation, deputy head of the strategic planning group, Director General for Planning and Coordination, head of the unmanned systems division, and defense technology protection bureau chief.
While some noted Kim's expertise in defense industry policy and unmanned systems, the KAI union opposed the appointment, citing his military background and alleged ties to the Lee Jae-myung administration. However, after Kim met with KAI union chief Kim Seung-gu on the 13th and moved to communicate proactively, the union was reportedly persuaded.