A Rapid Acquisition Strategy in Light of Recent Changes in the Global Security Environment : Policy Implications and Tasks for the Korean Defense Industry

Today, the global state of affairs is extremely volatile, not least because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In this report, we survey the recent changes in the global security environment with a view to identifying policy implications and tasks for the Korean defense industry.There are three main takeaways from the current state of global affairs for the Korean defense industry. First, Korea lacks military cybersecurity capabilities for dealing with the increasingly digital nature of warfare today, including hybrid warfare and gray-zone strategies. Second, efforts should be increased to use the military modernization policies of other developed countries as benchmarks and to develop cutting-edge weapons systems on the basis of priorities focusing on the effective response to threats from neighboring countries. Third, efforts should be commenced to reform and innovate Korea’s rigid weapons acquisition system, notwithstanding the high cost and lengthy periods of time involved, in the model of innovative systems in other developed countries