Hanwa Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon Inspects Defense Hub: "Must Build Unrivaled Defense AI Capabilities"

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon visited Hanwha Systems' Gumi business site, a core production hub for K-defense, on the 22nd to inspect future defense technology competitiveness and call for securing unrivaled defense artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

This marks his second on-site management move this year, following his visit to the Hanwha Systems Jeju Space Center in January.

On this day, Chairman Kim visited the Hanwha Systems Gumi business site located in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, received a briefing on business status, and inspected the advanced defense product production system.

Major executives accompanied him, including Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan and Hanwha Systems CEO Yang Ki-won.

The Hanwha Systems Gumi business site is a hub that develops and produces core defense electronic equipment such as radars, electro-optics, and naval combat systems.

Last December, Hanwha Systems invested approximately 280 billion won to complete a new business site spanning 89,000 square meters (approx. 27,000 pyeong), which is twice the size of its previous facility.

The new business site is equipped with advanced production and testing facilities, including a cleanroom of approximately 1,500 pyeong, the largest in the domestic defense industry.

Chairman Kim wrote in the guestbook, "The starting point of K-defense AI innovation, Hanwha Systems is creating the future of South Korea's independent national defense."

He then visited the assembly and testing site for the multi-function radar (MFR), the core sensor of the Cheongung-II mid-range surface-to-air guided missile system, to directly inspect the AI-based integrated air defense system currently under development by Hanwha Systems.

The multi-function radar is the core of air defense systems, detecting and tracking enemy aircraft and missiles, identifying friend or foe, and supporting the guidance of interception missiles. Hanwha Systems exports the Cheongung-II multi-function radar to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

The AI-based integrated air defense system connects various surveillance systems such as radars and electro-optical sensors with anti-aircraft guns and guided missiles, supporting rapid judgment and optimal responses to multiple complex threats.

Chairman Kim subsequently visited the large near-field antenna test range, which precisely measures the performance of radar antennas, to review the testing and verification capabilities for major radars such as the Cheongung multi-function radar and the KF-21 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

He also inspected the cockpit-type integrated bridge system (IBS) developed domestically for the first time in the maritime sector by Hanwha Systems.

Chairman Kim evaluated, "The Gumi business site has grown into an export forward base and a hub for technological innovation for Hanwha's defense extending to the global market," adding, "What you are making is not simply equipment or software, but the power that connects and moves all of Hanwha's defense capabilities as one, and the foundation that supports South Korea's security."

In particular, he emphasized AI as a core competitiveness for future defense.

Chairman Kim stressed, "The core that determines the competitiveness of Hanwha Group's defense is AI, and Hanwha Systems is playing the central role in that," adding, "Hanwha Systems, which connects the core powers of land, sea, air, and space created by Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Ocean into an AI command and control system, is the core axis responsible for the brain and nervous system of Hanwha's defense."

He further requested, "Hanwha Systems is the center of the group's defense AI and system integration," and "I hope you will foster unrivaled defense AI capabilities that no one else can replace."

Chairman Kim also emphasized, "Great achievements start from safety. There is no future without secured safety," and "The safety-first spirit will serve as the basis for protecting yourselves and your families at industrial sites, and your comrades and country on the battlefield."

(Photo: Provided by Hanwha, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.