Lee Yong-chul, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said in his inaugural address on the 17th that "the defense industry has shifted to an advanced strategic industry that must be nurtured with national capabilities," adding, "on the eve of the agency's 20th anniversary, it is time to prepare for a second founding."

Administrator Lee said at his inauguration ceremony held in the main conference room of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Gwacheon headquarters that "the popular sovereignty government has set 'realizing a top-four defense industry power' as a state agenda," adding, "we have been given concrete tasks to achieve $20 billion in defense exports and a 5% share of global defense exports."

Lee Yong-chul, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, delivers remarks at the inauguration ceremony for the 14th chief of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in the main conference room of the DAPA Gwacheon Government Complex on the 17th. /Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Program Administration

Lee said, "Defense exports are no longer a simple industry, but a national strategic industry that combines diplomacy, security, and the national interest," adding, "with this understanding, the government is pursuing defense exports not as simple weapons sales, but as an integrated economic diplomacy project that encompasses financial support, technology cooperation, and industrial innovation."

He added, "Despite the government's dramatic strategic shift, our agency needs to reflect on whether we have failed to break away from a domestic market-centered, acquisition-centered organizational structure and work inertia."

Administrator Lee noted, "To respond to the government's strategic shift, there are even opinions that it would be desirable to change our agency's name to the Defense Industry Administration."

He continued, "A sweeping innovation of our agency's administrative system is unavoidable," adding, "for open reform, we will do our best to build a broad cooperation network spanning the Office of the President, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea AeroSpace Administration, and other government ministries, the National Assembly, and the defense industry."

He said, "We will also flawlessly complete the daunting task of finishing the new government building in 2028 and the full transfer of personnel and organization."

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