The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 29th that it held the first meeting of the "task force for fostering innovative corporations in future new security" in Seoul and discussed key follow-up tasks with related ministries.
The task force was formed to implement the "direction for fostering innovative corporations in future new security" unveiled by the government in June. The main thrust of the direction is to support, at a pan-government level, corporations that hold advanced technologies in security fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and drones. The plan is to build an ecosystem in which strengthening national security capabilities leads to industrial growth, and to nurture domestic corporations into global innovative corporations.
The project involves related ministries including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of National Defense, the Financial Services Commission, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the Korea AeroSpace Administration. Affiliated institutions such as the Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI), the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (TIPA), and the Korea Venture Investment Corporation will also jointly push policy tasks.
At the first meeting, they discussed the composition and operation of the task force, research directions on new security strategic fields and criteria for selecting innovative and candidate corporations, and the schedule for designating strategic fields.
They also reviewed the schedules for enacting the special act on fostering innovative corporations in future new security and the act on defense advanced power projects, as well as amending the national contract act. Defense open innovation, the holding of investment briefings (IR), and plans to establish Korea Strategic Technology Partners (KSTP), a technology-specialized asset management firm, were also key agenda items.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to prepare an institutional framework to designate strategic fields and innovative corporations to grow the future new security field into a national core growth industry. Together with related ministries, it will also push for the enactment of a special act and the establishment of a pan-government cooperation system.
Selected innovative corporations will be supported across all stages of growth, from research and development (R&D) to investment, demonstrations, public procurement, and overseas market entry.
Details such as new security strategic fields, criteria for selecting innovative corporations, and plans to establish a Korea-style In-Q-Tel will be disclosed as soon as they are finalized.
Park Yong-soon, director general for SME policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Fostering innovative corporations in new security is a new growth engine that supports both national security and the creation of new industries," adding, "In cooperation with related ministries, we will build a support system encompassing investment, commercialization, and public procurement so that innovative corporations can lead the global market."