MSDI to build missile development and production hub in Gumi, targeting W700b by 2029

Defense company MSDI is moving to establish an industrial hub in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, covering the development, production and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of precision-guided weapons. The company aims to secure a domestic production base through partnerships with overseas missile firms and expand its business scope to include post-export maintenance services.

MSDI signed an MOU with Gumi on Tuesday at Gumi City Hall to cooperate on building missile development, production and MRO facilities and creating an international defense industrial complex. Gumi Mayor Kim Jang-ho and MSDI CEO Hwang Sung-hwan attended the signing ceremony.

The company's first-phase plan calls for investing about 700 billion won ($515 million) by 2029 to build a precision-guided weapons production factory, an MRO center, and storage and transport facilities. MSDI said it plans to secure the necessary site by the end of this year.

In the second phase, MSDI plans to develop a defense industry cluster within an industrial complex that Gumi is developing, attracting domestic and foreign defense firms to create an integrated hub linking research and development, production and maintenance.

A key feature of the project is that it combines research and development and after-service maintenance functions alongside production facilities. The plan is to merge foreign technology with domestic manufacturing and systems-integration capabilities, ultimately leading to joint development and exports of guided weapons. Gumi said it will provide administrative support, including site selection, permitting, coordination with relevant agencies and attracting companies to the complex.

MSDI is pursuing a joint development arrangement with a European missile specialist to produce a next-generation version of an existing air-to-ground guided weapon. The company said it is also in talks on licensed production and original equipment manufacturer arrangements for existing air-to-air and air-to-ground guided weapons. The specific partner company and weapon systems were not disclosed at this announcement, however.

If the European partnership materializes, MSDI could expand its business to include maintenance, life extension and performance upgrades for missiles already operated by the South Korean military and overseas customers, in addition to producing new missiles.

"We plan to establish in Gumi a full life-cycle process for precision-guided weapons — jointly developing a next-generation version of a globally proven air-to-ground guided weapon with a European missile specialist, then producing, exporting and providing MRO services for it," Hwang said.

The MOU represents a cooperation framework for advancing the project, with details such as whether joint development and production contracts with overseas firms will be concluded to be worked out going forward. The company said negotiations with multiple global defense firms are in the final stages and that it expects to announce results soon.