The government held the "Future New Security Innovation Enterprise Fostering Strategy Meeting" on Thursday and announced plans to nurture five companies with corporate value of around 1 trillion won and 50 new security innovation enterprises with sales of 100 billion won in the new security sector by 2030. The aim is to transform the current defense ecosystem led by large corporations into a startup-driven structure centered on new technologies, achieving the goal of becoming one of the "world's four leading defense powers" while doubling self-reliance.
At the meeting, plans were also announced to create a "Korean-style In-Q-Tel" that invests in new security innovation enterprises, modeled after the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit venture capital firm established by the CIA, made a 100% investment in Palantir, considered a defense innovation enterprise. President Lee Jae-myung said, "We will create innovative companies that can compete with the United States' Palantir, valued at 480 trillion won, or Germany's Helsing, valued at 26 trillion won."
The Iran war, following the Russia-Ukraine war, has completely changed the global security environment and the paradigm of warfare. In this respect, setting a goal to nurture unicorn companies in the security sector is timely. Now, Korea too must nurture defense companies with an insurmountable edge, like the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) startups Palantir and Anthropic, which have emerged as game changers by playing major roles in operations such as airstrikes based on technology to identify key military facilities and leadership hideouts. This is because the AI, drone, and big data technologies held by these innovative startups, rather than traditional conventional weapons, have become key factors in determining the outcome of war.
At the meeting, President Lee stressed, "K-defense is currently concentrated on large-corporation-centered weapons systems, and its rigid procurement structure makes entry by private innovative enterprises difficult," adding, "To be reborn as a new security power, fostering new security innovation enterprises is important." There can be no disagreement with this. However, for defense unicorn companies that can stand shoulder to shoulder with global advanced defense companies such as the U.S.'s Palantir or Germany's Helsing to emerge, creating soil in which innovative companies can grow is essential. In a barren environment beset by regulations that block entry into new businesses and "growth penalties" that weigh down companies as they expand, it is difficult to expect defense startups to properly sprout and grow. We must keep in mind that the path for Korean startups to stand tall at the center of the global defense industry lies in infrastructure support and regulatory innovation that allow seedling companies with innovative technologies to run freely.
