BUSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Cho Seung-han = The government will invest KRW 21.5 billion (USD 16.17 million) to establish a verification infrastructure for next-generation aircraft structural components in the Mieum Industrial Complex in Busan.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) announced on the 9th that it held a kick-off meeting for the 'Next-Generation Aircraft Structural Components Advanced Manufacturing Demonstration Support Infrastructure Project' at Busan Techno Park's Mieum Complex.

Led by Busan Techno Park as the primary agency, the project will commit KRW 15 billion (USD 11.28 million) in national funds and KRW 6.5 billion (USD 4.89 million) in local government funds over a five-year period through 2030. It is designed to establish a full-lifecycle verification facility for large-scale composite airframe parts, catering to global commercial aircraft manufacturers' demands for lightweight and low-carbon structures.

KASA explained that while the rapid shift toward structural lightweighting and decarbonization in the commercial aircraft market has driven surging demand for composite parts, domestic enterprises have faced challenges due to a lack of expensive specialized equipment and infrastructure.

Through this project, four major categories of shared equipment will be deployed in phases:
- Automated fiber placement (AFP) systems for large-scale aerospace composites
- High-pressure/high-speed resin transfer molding (RTM) systems
- Aerospace composite ply-cutting systems
- High-temperature presses for high-quality thermoplastic composite molding

The Korea Institute of Materials and Components (KIMC) and related research entities will handle technical support, offering consulting, process monitoring, and big data infrastructure development.

Tae-seok Oh, Administrator of KASA, stated, "This demonstration infrastructure will serve as a decisive stepping stone for our domestic enterprises, which have struggled at the threshold of global markets due to the burden of acquiring expensive, high-tech equipment." He added, "From processing and molding to quality verification and data-driven technical support, we will spare no effort in supporting domestic aerospace SMEs and mid-sized companies to grow into core partners for global aircraft manufacturers."

shjo@yna.co.kr



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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (September 09, 2026)

** This article was translated from Korean.