Closing the Gap: Modernizing South Korea's Defense Acquisition Framework

As part of its national agenda of pressing policy issues unveiled in 2022, the South Korean government proposed establishing a new process for augmenting its defensive capabilities. The decision has been accepted as necessary to achieve institutional and organizational reforms seen as necessary to rapidly and efficiently adopt military applications of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and drones to military purposes. And so, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) introduced the Rapid Acquisition Process (RAP) in 2023 and has subsequently made numerous improvements to Rapid Demonstration Programs (RDPs). This is welcome news. Nevertheless, these efforts fall short of peer programs in the United States and elsewhere in terms of timeliness, diversity, and flexibility. In the US, for example, the military has programs in place that allow new technologies to be rapidly fielded through acquisitions of software, applications of AI and services, and rapid acquisitions of cutting-edge commercial technologies. Such programs are lacking in Korea. To augment Korea’s military capabilities in today’s constantly shifting global security environment, robust measures that foster innovation are urgently necessary. First, we need to continue to improve RDPs while the RAP is consolidated. And a rapid fielding program should be incorporated into the RAP with clearly-defined follow-up measures in place that ensure successful prototypes reach the manufacturing stage and stronger linkages with other defense R&D programs. These efforts are necessary to make RAP a key part of the military acquisition process, and just as important as the traditional process Planning, Programming, Budgeting, Execution, and Evaluation System (PPBEES). But RDPs also need to evolve by taking the actual needs of the military into account in the planning phase. They should be made more distinct from the RAP and feature greater participation by private tech companies. A software acquisition program is currently in place. In addition to this, Korean decision-makers need to consider adopting dedicated rapid acquisition programs for AI, Services, and commercial technologies through the establishment of a Korean equivalent of the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) program currently employed by the US Department of Defense (DoD). The Korean version of this acquisition framework will help support the timely, diverse, and flexible acquisition of critical new assets for the Korean armed forces.