President Lee "Difficult to accept the idea that national defense must depend on someone else"

Emphasizes 'self-reliant defense' at defense industry forum... "We must have the mindset that we can do it ourselves"

"The core foundation of self-reliant defense is the development of the defense industry... it also plays a catalytic role for advanced technology"

"We need to provide more support and empower startups and SMEs... we must nurture new ventures for fairness"

President Lee Jae-myung at the Defense Industry Forum (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Han Sang-kyun = President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Defense Industry Development Forum held at KINTEX, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on the 20th. 2025.10.20 [Presidential Office Communications Photo Journalists] xyz@yna.co.kr

 President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 20th, "It is difficult for me to accept the fact that even in the current situation, some citizens believe that national defense must depend on someone else, and that we cannot achieve self-reliant defense."

President Lee made these remarks in his opening address at the Defense Industry Development Forum held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, saying, "There are two important meanings to the development of the defense industry."

President Lee emphasized, "Instead of such a mindset, we must foster the idea that 'we must and can achieve our own national defense,' and that 'we can achieve it with what we have now, and more than enough with minor improvements.' To do so, various measures will be necessary, but the core foundation is the development of the defense industry."

This presented 'self-reliant defense,' one of President Lee's core beliefs, as one of the two meanings inherent in fostering the K-defense industry.

The other meaning mentioned was the advancement of high-tech industries.

President Lee said, "The development of the defense industry should not merely be about 'making good weapons,' but should be advanced as a global industry by maximizing localization and expanding/diversifying markets. I hope it also serves as a major catalyst for the development of the private high-tech industry."

He explained that government support is necessary for this, stating, "We plan to significantly increase the defense budget. The largest portion will be substantial support for research and development (R&D)." He added, "To export, we must be able to say 'we are using it well.' Therefore, it is very important to actually apply domestically produced weapon systems to our national defense."

He continued, "Another point is that it is problematic to allow monopolies. We must pour our efforts into creating an ecosystem where those with technology can participate with confidence and fairness to gain opportunities."

In this regard, President Lee mentioned, "Perhaps we need to provide more support and empower startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Those who have vested interests have likely received considerable benefits from the government, so from an fairness perspective, we must nurture many new ventures." Yonhap News