South Korea's KAIST Develops Sophisticated Drones Amid Rising North Korean Threats

South Korean military drone illustration. (Wikimedia Commons//Republic of Korea Armed Forces)

JAKARTA - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will initiate an in-depth research project to develop new drone technologies, the university said Monday, to further prepare for attacks using remotely driven aircraft.

The announcement coincided with growing concerns about North Korea's efforts to send reconnaissance aircraft to South Korea. In December last year, a number of unmanned drones sent by North Korea infiltrated South Korea's airspace and lasted about seven hours in the Gyeonggi province. The military failed to detect them, amplifying concerns about security breaches.

machine engineering professor KAIST Yoon Yong-jin won a government grant worth 12.95 billion won (IDR 146.763.588.149) to advance research in drone development and commercialization until 2026, the university said last month, reported by the Korea Times, on April 14.

The money is part of a 49 billion won (IDR 555.321.684.890) grant prepared to push for a defense project in Daejeon, a city south of Seoul. Half or 24.5 billion won, each will be taken from the Metropolitan City of Daejeon and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, a defense ministry-affiliated body.

The three-year project will be jointly worked on by KAIST and the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement, a research organization affiliated with the Ministry of Defense.

Their goals will include establishing research institutes specializing in drone technology development, encouraging the commercial continuity of the local drone business, and providing infrastructure where beginners can run new equipment and technology testing.

The project is expected to create a conducive environment for deep research and the development of high-tech drones, supported by a number of state-owned and private science and IT research institutes, based on and around Daejeon.

The project will accelerate the development of changeable nano and drone drones, a focus of the same importance as strengthening the production capabilities of local artificial materials and spare parts needed for drone manufacturing.

This research will create a synergy between small and medium enterprises and the government. High-quality work will be created in the process, strengthening the efficiency of state science and defense research as a whole, according to the university.

Yoon earned a master's and doctoral degree in engineering from Stanford University in the US. He served as a professor of machine and flight engineering at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore from 2010 to 2018. He was later appointed professor of machine engineering at KAIST in 2018.