The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Dr. William LaPlante, co-chaired the 48th Annual Defense Technological and Industrial Cooperation Committee meeting with Mr. Eom Dong-hwan, the Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), of the Republic of Korea (ROK) at the Pentagon, July 28, 2023. The DTICC is focused on ensuring continued interoperability of our forces through a broad range of discussions on all aspects of defense acquisition and was last convened in 2018.
Among many topics, the leaders highlighted the ROK’s Defense Acquisition Programs Training Institute (DATPI) and its partnership with Defense Acquisition University. Minister Eom expressed his gratitude for DATPI-DAU collaboration in training the ROK acquisition workforce and Dr. LaPlante conveyed his support for DAPA’s endeavor to identify and train acquisition professionals, encouraging continued engagement to further these common goals.
The delegations also discussed supply chain resiliency. Both leaders highlighted the need to look for opportunities to strengthen industrial base resilience through cooperation and collaboration, especially with partner countries in the Indo-Pacific. Dr. LaPlante emphasized the Department’s commitment to building resiliency and better incentivizing industry to prepare for emergent global security needs.
Dr. LaPlante and Minister Eom concluded the dialogue with an update on efforts to conclude a U.S.-ROK Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA). Both were encouraged by the work completed to date and confirmed their respective teams will continue coordination to finalize this important arrangement.
