The initiative comes as drones rapidly redefine modern warfare from Ukraine to the Middle East, exposing how military competitiveness increasingly depends not only on advanced unmanned systems but also on resilient supply chains and the capacity for fast, low-cost mass production.
“Drones have already changed the battlefield, but South Korea still has a long way to go,” said Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean Army lieutenant general.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination said Thursday that it had finalized key policy tasks during the third meeting of the government’s drone and counter-drone task force. Officials said they had completed scenario analyses on evolving security threats, including hybrid drones, and agreed to coordinate inter-ministerial response systems under a broader national defense framework.
At the center of the strategy is a standardized marketplace built on K-MOSA, short for Korea’s modular open systems approach for defense unmanned systems. The framework is designed to move the industry away from fragmented proprietary specifications by allowing certified drone parts and modules to operate interchangeably across platforms.
Under the envisioned system, authorized buyers would be able to compare, select and procure interoperable components through a digital platform, reducing dependence on single vendors while making drone systems easier to upgrade as battlefield requirements evolve. The government said the framework is intended to shorten development timelines and enable low-cost mass production.
The push also reflects a broader industrial vulnerability. Although South Korea’s drone exports have expanded rapidly, the domestic ecosystem remains heavily exposed to cheaper Chinese products and components.
According to a report by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) released last November, South Korea’s drone exports reached $27.54 million in 2024, nearly 10 times higher than three years earlier. Yet the country still accounted for less than 0.5 percent of global drone exports, underscoring the gap between outward growth and meaningful global competitiveness.
The same report showed global drone trade more than doubled over the past three years to exceed $6 billion, while the overall market is projected to expand more than 14 percent annually to reach $163.6 billion by 2030. Despite that growth, South Korea’s drone sector continues to struggle with weak manufacturing infrastructure, low localization of critical parts and heavy dependence on imports.
South Korea’s dependence is especially acute in components. Recent trade analysis found that Chinese products accounted for roughly 70 percent of South Korea’s drone-parts imports on average over the past three years, leaving domestic manufacturers vulnerable to supply disruptions or export controls from Beijing.
Industry officials say the imbalance ultimately comes down to cost. Chinese components are often significantly cheaper than domestic alternatives, making it difficult for smaller Korean drone makers to source locally while competing in an intensely price-sensitive market.
Kim Mu-hyun, a researcher at the KITA, said South Korea’s dependence on Chinese drone parts does not stem from a lack of technological capability.
“South Korea has the technology,” Kim said. “The fundamental problem is that there is not enough domestic demand, so even if companies make the parts, it does not become profitable.”
Kim argued that localization is necessary over the long term, but demand must come first. Without sustained civilian, public-sector or defense procurement, manufacturers have little incentive to invest in production lines or expand hiring.
That imbalance is reflected in the industry’s structure. According to the 2024 Drone Industry Survey cited in industry reports, South Korea had 6,835 drone-related companies as of December 2023, but combined industry sales totaled just 1.09 trillion won ($1.4 billion). Of those firms, only 608 were manufacturers, while 6,227 focused on services or drone utilization, highlighting how the sector remains centered more on operation than deep manufacturing capacity.
Employment data points to a similar weakness. According to figures from the Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology cited in local industry reports, the number of workers employed by drone manufacturers fell from 4,152 in 2021 to 2,740 in 2023, even as the number of drone manufacturers rose from 345 to 608 over the same period.
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