Page 137 - 2018 Defense White Paper

3. Strengthening Expertise and Flexibility in Project Management

| Strengthening Defense Acquisition Expertise | The MND and the DAPA have strived
to secure acquisition personnel’s expertise and improve the personnel management system to

successfully carry out projects in the modern defense environment, where weapons systems
are becoming more advanced and complex, and technologies are rapidly evolving. The two
branches of the defense acquisition education system—the Occupational Work Training Center

of the Korea National Defense University (KNDU) and the DAPA Education Center—will be
merged into one under the control of the DAPA, with plans to set up a specialized educational
institution for defense acquisition that delivers high-quality education and research.

Under the principle of “education f irst, assignment later,” the specialized educational institution
will educate all personnel working in defense acquisition projects on expert knowledge on
weapons systems and help them cultivate professional capabilities to implement policies from a
macro-level view. The institution is expected to become a cradle of defense acquisition specialists Chapter 4

that also contributes to the creation of a working environment that promotes communication
and collaboration.

To improve eff iciency in operations and promote the accumulation of expertise, the MND
will newly establish the Project Management Office (PMO) system, where a series of project
management processes between the start of a project and its end are carried out by one
designated group. In addition, the DAPA will adopt the program of public of f icials in technical

service 11) to encourage its employees to manage projects responsibly as well as build expertise
and work knowledge as defense acquisition specialist of f icials.

| Developing Flexibility in Program Management | The MND and the DAPA will create
an environment for f lexible and speedy project execution to respond to changes in the security
environment as well as science and technology. To enable the selection and application of

optimal project execution methods in consideration of the size, urgency, technological level,

11) They are public officials who are assigned to certain specialist areas only that require a high-level of expertise
and long-term service. Their titles are categorized into chief specialist officials and specialist officials.
(Regulations on the Personnel Management of Public Officials in Technical/Professional Service, Presidential
Decree No.28211, July 26, 2017)

Section 4 Improving the Transparency of the Defense Acquisition Program and the Competitiveness of the Defense Industry 135