South Korea ”simplifies” certification of ”military small drones” for airworthiness...hopes to deploy drones in preparation for ”threats from the North”

In South Korea, the aviation certification procedures for the "military use" of drones, a core technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, will be simplified, allowing the latest drones to be used in the military.
On the 18th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration of Korea announced, "On the 11th of this month, we announced the standard airworthiness certification criteria for military aircraft, focusing on small drones weighing less than 600 kg.
Airworthiness certification is a government certification of an aircraft's flight safety, and the DAPA carries out airworthiness certification according to standard airworthiness certification criteria that take into account the characteristics of military aircraft.
The DAPA said, "Countries that are advanced in drone development, such as the United States and Europe, have recently come to realize that it is not practical to apply complex aviation certification standards similar to those for manned aircraft to small drones.
"We are preparing simplified procedures for aviation certification," he said, adding, "Based on examples from overseas, we have decided to establish and implement separate standard aviation certification criteria specifically for small drones."
The new standard airworthiness certification criteria are more than 90% simpler than the previous criteria. If this standard is applied, the airworthiness certification for small drones, which usually takes more than a year, will be completed.
The certification period is expected to be shortened to within six months. This will enable the country to acquire drone forces quickly in response to the threat from North Korea, which has recently been strengthening its drone strategy.
"The implementation of standard aviation certification standards for small drones will allow the latest civilian drones to be quickly militarized," said Kim Il-dong, director of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
"This will create an ecosystem for the development of drone-related industries in Japan."