South Korea can capitalize on its strengths in tech and military as the evolution of the fourth industrial age could open immense opportunities in the commercialization of defense assets, a forum led by Maeil Business Newspaper found.

The world defense industry is projected to jump tenfold to become a $300 billion market in 15 years as emerging technologies make conventional weapons obsolete and more countries rush to digitalize and automate armed forces, according to the joint presentations of the Maeil Business Newspaper and Seoul National University’s College of Engineering.

The findings came from a report titled “Militech 4.0: New Growth Strategy in the Era of Technological Hegemony” revealed in a conference celebrating the 53rd anniversary of the South Korean newspaper Wednesday.

“We can achieve both security and economic growth through militech promotion,” said Chang Dae-whan, chairman of Maekyung Media Group, in the opening address.

Many of the world-changing technologies in use today have their roots in the military, he said. The internet was invented as a communication network by the U.S. defense department. Jet engines developed for military use in the two World Wars have since powered the passenger aircraft revolution.

Future technologies will change the face of warfare, leading to artificial intelligence wars, cyberwars and space laser battles, the report said. It noted that the development of stealth weapons, weaponized satellites, AI robot fleets and hypersonic cruise missiles is likely to open the doors for more industrial innovations, creating a whole new market in the military sphere.

Conventional troops will be replaced by robotic bugs and robots in the future, said Lee Dong-jun, professor of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Seoul National University.

He introduced a remote-controlled bug his team has developed that can be enhanced with surveillance capabilities to be deployed for spying mission in North Korea if needed.

Defense companies today are embracing tech more than ever before. In 2017, French aerospace and defense company Thales bought Franco-Dutch chipmaker Gemalto for 4.8 billion euros ($5.45 billion), a mega deal that brought together Europe’s largest defense electronics group with the world’s largest SIM card manufacturer. Thales also acquired Vormetric, a data protection solutions provider, for 375 million euros in its bid to become a global leader in cybersecurity.

Alain Bouquin, Thales defense consultant, said the Militech 4.0 will herald a massive new market, one in which Lockheed Martin would no longer compete against just defense contractors like Boeing and Raytheon but tech companies like Google and Huawei.

According to the 2018 Global Defense Market Yearbook, global weapons expenditure totaled $30 billion last year. Sales of the world’s top 100 defense companies reached $370 billion, with the United States accounting for 90 percent. Global arms trade has been on a steady rise, up from $28.5 billion in 2015 to $31.1 billion in 2017.

Even middle powers have the opportunity to become major powers if they gain a lead in militech, said Jean-Christophe Noël, an associate research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

By Lee Jin-myung and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]