DAEJEON < invest Korea

According to Newsis,

[DAEJEON = NEWSIS] By Kwak Sang-hoon = Daejeon City held a meeting with seven local companies selected last year for the “Defense Innovation Companies 100” program, a public initiative overseen by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), to discuss support measures and future cooperation.

Launched in 2022 under DAPA, the Defense Innovation Companies 100 program is a five-year government-led initiative to designate and foster 100 small and venture enterprises with innovative technologies, selecting about 20 companies annually across five strategic advanced defense industry sectors: space, drones, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Among the 21 companies selected nationwide in December last year, seven companies (33 percent) are based in Daejeon, and of the 83 companies selected between 2022 and 2025, 26 companies (31.3 percent) are from Daejeon, the highest number outside the Seoul metropolitan area.

Each designated company can receive up to 5 billion KRW in national funding over five years through dedicated R&D projects, along with comprehensive benefits such as consulting, financing, R&D and export support, and additional uation points when applying for Defense Acquisition Program Administration projects.

At the meeting, company representatives shared their preparations for the competitive selection process under the Defense Innovation Companies 100 program, introduced their core technologies, and presented their business achievements to date. The city encouraged participating companies, listened to their challenges, and discussed administrative support measures as well as strategies for the development of the defense industry ecosystem.

Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon stated, “We will continue to expand the defense innovation ecosystem through initiatives such as support for tenant companies at the Ansan Advanced Defense Industry Complex, operation of Daejeon Investment Finance, customized talent development programs for companies, and policies aimed at intensively fostering local defense industry firms.”

◎ NEWSIS, kshoon0663@newsis.com



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Source Text

Source: Newsis (January 08, 2026)

** This article was translated from Korean.