The Korea Defense Space Society held its 2026 Summer Academic Conference at the Westin Josun in Haeundae District, Busan, from the 8th to the 10th. During a panel discussion held on the 9th, eight defense-space experts from industry, government, and academia joined the audience for a lively exchange of views on achieving technological self-reliance and advancing defense-space capabilities. The discussion was moderated by Ko Kwang-bon, deputy editor of Seoul Economic Daily.
The panelists shared views on the tactical value of space and the expanding scope of warfare in conflicts since the 2020s. Kim Kyung-geun, director at the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), said, "Currently, NATO countries rely heavily on the United States in the defense-space field," adding, "While they have depended on the U.S. for securing space launch vehicles and the like, we are seeing a growing trend of nations working to revitalize their own related industries as the importance of defense space rises." Chung Kyu-heon, former director at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, cited the Russia-Ukraine war as "the world's first case of employing private space technology companies in warfare." Picking up on Chung's remarks, Kim Ee-eul, CEO of Satrec Initiative, predicted, "If the Russia-Ukraine war was humanity's first space war, the recent conflict between the U.S. and Iran is an artificial intelligence (AI) war," adding, "Wars will be waged using both space and AI."
Lee Jong-ho, co-chairman of the Korea Defense Space Society and a former Chief of Naval Operations, said, "There's an old saying that those who rule the sea rule the world, but now I'm reminded that you cannot rule the world without ruling space," adding, "Our navy now has great interest in space across various fields, and the important question we must now consider is how to apply space-related capabilities to actual operations."
The conversation naturally moved to how to use AI on the battlefield. Kim Ji-hong, vice president of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), assessed, "Every element of warfare is being converted to an AI basis, and defense space is no exception," adding, "In fact, since the pace of AI transformation (AX) is slower than in other industries, there is a need to move faster." Kim Jong-pil, executive at LIG D&A, noted, "There are many difficulties in using AI in the defense domain due to security issues," but pointed out that "paradoxically, AX is the most urgent need in the defense field in an era of a manpower cliff."
The government officials who appeared as panelists also introduced the government's current defense-space policies. Kwon Hyun-jun, director of the Space and Aviation Policy Bureau at the Korea AeroSpace Administration, said, "On the 3rd of this month, the National Space Committee convened with President Lee Jae-myung in attendance, and at that meeting the government declared it would transform itself into a buyer that uses the private sector's R&D achievements," adding, "However, since it is difficult to completely erase security concerns when the military uses private space-related products, we are operating a regular consultative body in connection with the Ministry of National Defense."
Large corporations deeply involved in space-related businesses stressed that the government and industry must join hands to build an autonomous defense-space ecosystem. Song Sung-chan, executive director at Hanwha Systems, suggested, "The ideal form is for the government to first create a market, and for private companies to autonomously build an ecosystem and compete." Lee Jun-won, executive at Hanwha Aerospace, said, "We are currently developing small launch vehicles reflecting the demand of private companies," adding, "If we succeed in developing small launch vehicles, we hope the government will open the door of defense-related launch vehicle project demand to companies."
Panelists offered differing views on the extent to which defense-space data should be opened to the private sector. Director Kwon Hyun-jun expressed a relatively cautious stance on opening information, while panelists from corporate backgrounds indicated that security regulations need to be partly eased in order to catch up on the technology gap with advanced nations. Kim Jong-pil said, "The era in which humans identify and interpret all information is now passing," emphasizing, "To develop AI that automatically integrates information and detects anomalies, high-quality training data is needed." He added, "It is good for the military to devote itself to AI development using data on its own, but opening opportunities to various companies is also a way to promote rapid technology acquisition."
Ahn Byung-seok, an adjunct professor in the Department of National Security at Pyeongtaek University who attended the event as an observer, offered his view, saying, "When it comes to security, the network separation policy is a factor that hinders the processing and integration of information and support for sound decision-making," adding, "Now is the time to consider progressively improving the network separation policy."
The panelists took up the pace of the military authorities' adoption of advanced technology as the next topic. They unanimously pointed out that the military's pace of adopting new technologies is slow. Director Kim Kyung-geun noted, "Our government is also introducing some deregulation systems such as the rapid acquisition system, but compared to overseas it is still slow." CEO Kim Ee-eul also expressed concern, saying, "Even with the benefits of the rapid acquisition system, it takes a good two years to apply advanced technology in the field for the military," adding, "I fear the current technology gap will widen even further."
Meanwhile, Bang Hyo-choong, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), responded to the panelists' discourse on speed by saying, "A value as important as speed is accumulation," offering the view that "efforts to accumulate core technologies and business know-how related to defense space over a long time and with great care are also necessary."
