Daejeon mayor says DAPA is moving to his city

Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo holds a press conference at the Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall on Sunday. [Daejeon Metropolitan City]

Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo said Sunday that President Yoon Suk-yeol promised to move the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to Daejeon.

"I was promised full support for the swift relocation of DAPA in a phone call with President Yoon Suk-yeol today," Lee said in a press conference at Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall.

Lee said Daejeon initially requested a 12 billion won ($8.95 million) budget to relocate DAPA, but the president promised additional funding of 9 billion won, bringing the total budget to 21 billion won.

DAPA, the state arms procurement agency, is based at the Gwacheon government complex in Gyeonggi. DAPA has an annual budget of 16.7 trillion won and some 1,600 employees.

Lee said that a 300-member special task force to prepare for the DAPA relocation plan will begin work early next year based in Wolpyeong-dong in Daejeon's Seo District.

Daejeon is reviewing two sites for DAPA: a facility at the Daejeon Government Complex currently not in use and the Ansan Advanced Defense Industrial Complex.

"The president expressed his intentions to expedite his campaign pledges and promised reliable follow-up support," said Lee. "We will select a location advantageous to Daejeon's development."

Lee said he told Yoon that the Daejeon city government will do whatever it can to support administrative procedures for the DAPA relocation.

"The president said that he would foster the city of Daejeon as a center of aerospace research and development," said Lee. "I thanked the president for keeping his promise by calling me directly and conveying his will to strengthen the defense industry and aerospace R&D despite facing many national issues and difficulties."

This is in line with key city development plans envisioned by the Daejeon mayor, who hopes that DAPA's relocation will be an opportunity to attract large defense companies such as Hanwha to the city.

Lee's sudden press conference over the weekend appeared to be an attempt counter a recent push by the Nonsan City Government to get DAPA to move there.

On Aug. 14, Nonsan Mayor Baek Sung-hyun visited the National Assembly and met with parliamentary deputy speaker Chung Jin-suk, Sung Il-jong, the top policymaker of the People Power Party (PPP) and other lawmakers and asked for their cooperation in relocating the DAPA to Nonsan in South Chungcheong.

Baek argued that the relocation of the DAPA to Nonsan is "a decision necessary for the survival of South Chungcheong and the southern region."

Acknowledging Daejeon's bid, he suggested that roles could be divided between Daejeon and Nonsan, such as creating a defense research institute in Daejeon and industrial facilities in Nonsan.

He pointed out that Nonsan is home to several defense education institutions such as the Korea Army Training Center and the Army Aviation School.

In turn, on July 26, the Daejeon city government launched a joint public-private committee to promote the relocation of DAPA to Daejeon. The committee, co-chaired by Mayor Lee and former Vice Defense Minister Hwang In-moo, is comprised of 37 defense experts in the private, public, industrial, academic and research sectors.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]