Kim Kyung-soo, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for South Gyeongsang governor, unveils his campaign pledges in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, May 21. YonhapKorea’s gubernatorial candidates in South Gyeongsang Province are positioning the booming aerospace and defense industries at the center of their economic campaign pledges, vowing to transform the region into a global hub for advanced defense, shipbuilding and aerospace technologies.Both ruling and opposition candidates have unveiled their plans to strengthen the province’s industrial ecosystem with the focus on research, so the region can create value-added jobs tied to artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation defense systems and future mobility industries.Kim Kyung-soo, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate for South Gyeongsang governor, said he would support President Lee Jae Myung’s vision of combining defense, shipbuilding, nuclear energy and AI technologies to develop nuclear-powered submarines.Kim said the initiative presents a major opportunity for South Gyeongsang Province, which already serves as the nation’s primary production base for defense manufacturing and shipbuilding.“The province accounts for more than half of the country’s defense industry sales, yet less than 0.1 percent of related research institute functions are located here,” Kim said Tuesday.He criticized what he described as a structural imbalance in which manufacturing is concentrated in the region, while higher-value activities, such as design, strategy and research, remain centered in Seoul and its surrounding areas.His key campaign pledge includes the establishment of a privately led defense AI data center worth 1.5 trillion won ($1 billion) in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.Kim also promised to attract core research and development functions from major defense firms, such as Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, LIG Defense & Aerospace and Hanwha Ocean, to the province.Park Wan-soo, the People Power Party candidate for South Gyeongsang governor, campaigns in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, May 21. YonhapMeanwhile, Park Wan-soo of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who is also running for South Gyeongsang governor, unveiled a regional development strategy dividing South Gyeongsang Province into five economic zones — central, eastern, western, southern and northern regions — each with specialized industrial priorities.Park pledged to strengthen Changwon’s position as a defense and nuclear industry hub by promoting the creation of a national industrial complex dedicated to defense and nuclear energy, as well as establishing an advanced defense industry promotion institute there.He also vowed to foster the western region, including Jinju and Sacheon — home to the Korea AeroSpace Administration and the aerospace national industrial complex — into the country’s leading aerospace cluster.For the southern coastal cities of Geoje and Tongyeong, Park proposed establishing a Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation zone and developing a naval maintenance, repair and overhaul cluster to bolster the global competitiveness of Korea’s shipbuilding sector.“We will transform South Gyeongsang Province into the nation’s economic capital by pushing ahead with the region-specific growth strategies,” Park said.