Navy Chief Kim Kyung-ryul Opens Navy-Marine Corps AX Hub in Busan, Signs Agreement With Busan City and DAPA
Seoul
The Navy held an opening ceremony for its ‘Navy-Marine Corps Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) Hub’ on the 6th at the Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency in Haeundae District, Busan, presided over by Chief of Naval Operations Kim Kyung-ryul. At the same event, the Navy, Busan City and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed a memorandum of understanding on ‘building an AX cooperation framework for maritime and naval shipbuilding projects.’ The Ministry of National Defense announced the event in a policy briefing on the 8th. The hub’s operating budget, resident staffing and the term of the agreement were not disclosed.
Source: Policy Briefing, Ministry of National Defense press release (Nov. 8, 2026)
The ceremony and attendees
About 100 people from the maritime AI sector attended the ceremony, including Chief of Naval Operations Kim Kyung-ryul, Marine Corps Commandant Ju Il-seok, Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) President Park Jong-rae, Hannam University President Lee Seung-cheol, Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency head Kim Jong-cheol and Busan Regional SMEs and Startups Office head Lee Cheong-il. The hub is named the ‘Navy-Marine Corps AX Hub.’
The Ministry of National Defense said the hub will serve as a cooperation base that identifies the AI technologies needed at the military’s operations and education and training sites and brings outstanding private-sector technologies into the defense field. It will also handle joint research and technology demonstrations using defense data, and is expected to play a “pivotal role” in building the maritime AI ecosystem, the ministry said.
Navy, Busan City and DAPA agreement
The three institutions agreed to promote AI transformation in maritime and naval shipbuilding projects, strengthen technological competitiveness and build a sustainable industrial ecosystem. Roles under the agreement differ by institution.
| Institution | Role under the agreement |
|---|---|
| Navy and Marine Corps | Review system operating concepts needed for AI technology development; provide a technology demonstration environment |
| Busan Metropolitan City | Build AI infrastructure for the maritime sector, including a data center; foster the industrial ecosystem |
| Defense Acquisition Program Administration | AI research and development for maritime and naval shipbuilding projects; support the growth of the regional defense industry |
Attendees also proclaimed a maritime AX vision under the theme ‘A Maritime Power Opened by AI, a Great AI Transformation Starting in the Maritime Capital.’ The Ministry of National Defense said it reflects a determination to start the great AI transformation of the maritime sector in Busan and spread it to a nationwide level.
UNIST as lead research institution
UNIST, the lead institution for research and development, presented the hub’s R&D tasks for this year, including development of an AI-based battlefield simulation platform, along with future plans. The Ministry of National Defense did not disclose per-task budgets or development periods in its announcement on the 8th.
In an earlier press release on June 18, the Ministry of National Defense set out the development direction for the Navy-Marine Corps hub. The Navy and Marine Corps plan to focus on developing AI item-management technology for intelligent logistics support and an AI staff officer for doctrine and manual research, among other things. The same release said Hannam University will build the common AI infrastructure for the five hubs, and that the lead institutions for the unit-specific center R&D are Korea University for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Ajou University (Pangyo center) and KAIST (Daejeon center) for the Army, Seoul National University for the Air Force, and UNIST for the Navy and Marine Corps.
On June 18, the Ministry of National Defense held the second Defense Data Policy Forum at the Busan Design Promotion Agency, presided over by Jeon Jun-beom, director of the Defense AI Planning Bureau, to discuss plans for the military-industry-academia cooperation center project. About 50 defense data policy officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the services and related agencies and universities attended. The tasks at the other hubs are: for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an AI-based strategic decision-support model and demonstration of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2); for the Army, physical AI for ground unmanned systems at Pangyo and agentic AI to make personnel, education and training, and logistics work more efficient at Daejeon; and for the Air Force, automatic target identification in surveillance and reconnaissance imagery and automatic mission-plan drafting.
The lead institutions for the common AI infrastructure will build the latest GPU servers and AI development software at each center, and create a ‘Defense Data Safe Zone’ where the military and civilian sectors can jointly and securely use defense data. The Ministry of National Defense said it selected the lead institutions together with the services and signed project execution agreements at the end of May.
Jeon Jun-beom, director of the Defense AI Planning Bureau at the Ministry of National Defense, said at the June policy forum that “building the military-industry-academia cooperation centers will become the foundation of ‘defense AI cooperation’ that links the AI technology capabilities of the civilian and military sectors into one,” and that the ministry will “continue to actively support the centers so they can develop into core hubs that lead defense AX.”
Source: Policy Briefing, Ministry of National Defense press release (June 18, 2026)
Busan among five defense AX hubs
The Navy-Marine Corps hub is one of five defense AX hubs the Ministry of National Defense is pursuing. On Oct. 12, the ministry held an opening ceremony for the first hub, the Army Pangyo AX hub, at Pangyo Techno Valley, presided over by Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul. About 150 people from the private sector, government and military attended. The Pangyo hub aims to be a world-class defense physical AI hub, collecting physical AI data and training and demonstrating AI models built on it in humanoid and multi-legged robots. The ministry expects the technology to be used in transporting supplies in hazardous areas, explosive ordnance disposal, chemical, biological and radiological reconnaissance and mine clearance, reducing service members’ exposure to danger. At the ceremony, Minister Kang Shin-chul said, “When the concept of ‘how are we going to fight’ is established in that encounter, and when that concept stands firm, only then does advanced technology become a tool for victory.” The ministry said it will open the Joint Chiefs of Staff and service hubs in turn after Pangyo.
On Oct. 12, the Ministry of National Defense disclosed the lead institutions and key tasks for the five hubs.
| Hub | Lead institution | Key task |
|---|---|---|
| Army Pangyo | Ajou University | Physical AI (training and demonstration for humanoid and multi-legged robots) |
| JCS Yongsan | Korea University | Demonstration of military command and control using classified data |
| Army Daejeon | KAIST | Focused research on agentic AI |
| Navy-Marine Corps Busan | UNIST | Maritime AX demonstration, including intelligent logistics support |
| Air Force Yangjae | Seoul National University | Air Force AX demonstration, including automatic target identification |
In the June 18 release, the Ministry of National Defense said “a total of 19 billion won will be invested this year” in the military-industry-academia cooperation center project, which will be built within five regional AX hubs: Yongsan, Seoul (Joint Chiefs of Staff), Pangyo and Daejeon (Army), Yangjae (Air Force) and Busan (Navy and Marine Corps). The 19 billion won is the total for the five sites, and Busan’s share has not been made public. The ministry said the cooperation centers would open in turn within the year, and the Busan ceremony took place on Nov. 6.
Opening schedule by hub
On Oct. 22, the Ministry of National Defense held the ‘2026 Defense AI Promotion Review Meeting,’ presided over by Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee, and checked the operation of the five hubs and preparations for their openings. About 30 people attended, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s director of military support, the services’ deputy chiefs of staff, the Marine Corps deputy commandant, and officials from the National AI Strategy Committee and DAPA. The ministry disclosed each hub’s opening date that day.
| Hub | Focus | Opening date |
|---|---|---|
| Army Pangyo | Physical AI | Oct. 12 |
| JCS Yongsan | Command-and-control AI | Oct. 13 |
| Air Force Yangjae | Aerospace AX | Oct. 28 |
| Army Daejeon | Agentic AI | Nov. 3 |
| Navy-Marine Corps Busan | Maritime AX | Nov. 6 |
By the Ministry of National Defense’s schedule, Busan was the last of the five to open, 25 days after the Oct. 12 opening ceremony at Pangyo.
Vice Minister Lee Doo-hee said at the meeting, “To respond proactively to the decline in military manpower and the rapidly changing future battlefield environment, it is important for our military itself to have the autonomous capability to use and develop AI technology.” Under the vision of ‘building an autonomous, advanced and strong military based on sovereign AI,’ the ministry set out three key directions: building the foundation for a great defense AI transformation, strengthening private-public-military cooperation, and maximizing force strength through the application of AI. The meeting also reviewed the development of defense-specific AI models, the securing of GPU resources, the ‘platform construction project’ for data processing and refinement on the defense network, and preparations for the D(Defense).AX project, which will pilot private-sector physical AI in transport, guard duty and hazardous-materials handling.
Source: Policy Briefing, Ministry of National Defense press release (Oct. 22, 2026)
Remarks by the Navy chief and a staff director
Chief of Naval Operations Kim Kyung-ryul said, “Based on the experience it has accumulated at sea, the Navy can propose fields that need AI technology and also support the process of testing new technology in the field.” He added, “If AI capabilities developed together by the private sector, government and military are used in actual missions, it will be a great help in realizing an ‘elite Navy that protects the people.’”
Rear Adm. Lee Yong-tae, director of information planning at Navy Headquarters, said, “The Navy-Marine Corps AX hub will play a key role in linking the military’s requirements with outstanding private-sector technology and carrying out joint AI research and demonstrations using defense data.”
Numbers the Ministry of National Defense did not disclose
At its policy briefing on the 8th, the Ministry of National Defense described the event and the structure of the agreement but did not disclose scale information such as budget, personnel or duration. The event took place on Friday the 6th, and the policy briefing was posted on Sunday the 8th. For the Pangyo hub, the ministry issued its release at 14:30 on Oct. 12, the day of the ceremony.
| Item | Ministry of National Defense announcement |
|---|---|
| This year’s operating budget for the Navy-Marine Corps AX hub | Not announced |
| Busan’s share of the five hubs’ project cost | Not announced |
| Resident and dispatched staff at the hub | Not announced |
| Term of the Navy–Busan City–DAPA agreement | Not announced |
| Size, budget and completion date of Busan’s data center | Not announced |
| Amount of DAPA’s support for AI R&D | Not announced |
| UNIST’s per-task R&D budgets this year | Not announced |
| Completion date for the battlefield simulation platform | Not announced |
| Total budget for the five hubs this year | 19 billion won (June 18 release) |
The ministry’s explanation
On June 18, the Ministry of National Defense said the cooperation center project would allow it to “quickly adopt the latest AI technology and respond effectively to changes in the future battlefield environment.” On Oct. 12, it said it would strengthen technology development based on industry-academia-military cooperation centered on the defense AX hubs, and speed up AI- and data-driven defense innovation by linking outstanding private-sector AI technology with defense field needs. Minister Kang Shin-chul said at the time, “The defense AX hubs are places where the military’s field experience meets the technology and wisdom of industry, academia and research institutes.”
Sources (KST)
- Ministry of National Defense · 2026-11-08 · A venue for joint civilian-military AI research and demonstration (press release) · https://www.korea.kr/briefing/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=156788350
- Ministry of National Defense · 2026-10-12 14:30 KST · Ministry of National Defense holds opening ceremony for first ‘Defense AX Hub’ (press release) · https://www.korea.kr/briefing/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=156784873
- Ministry of National Defense · 2026-06-18 14:00 KST · Civilian and military to develop ‘AI technology’ together using defense data! Work begins on ‘military-industry-academia cooperation centers’ in five AX hubs (press release) · https://www.korea.kr/briefing/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=156767118
- Ministry of National Defense · 2026-10-22 15:30 KST · “Accelerating the transition to an advanced science and technology military for the great defense AI transformation” (press release) · https://www.korea.kr/briefing/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=156786154