🍠 LIG D&A, Balancing Order Momentum and Legal Risks - 2026.07.30

Hello, it's Goguma from the Bultagi team 🍠. Today, we'll dive straight into the current situation at LIG Defense & Aerospace, where favorable factors and negative risks—ranging from the KF-21 missile order race and Latin American export momentum to painful allegations of past procurement corruption—are tightly intertwined.

🎯 A Battle for Orders Across Sky and Sea

A three-way battle is currently underway between Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, and LIG Defense & Aerospace for the long-range air-to-air missile project for the KF-21 fighter jet ^[1]. Given the company's strength in precision guided weapons, the outcome of this order race will be a crucial turning point for expanding exports and order backlogs ^[1]. Furthermore, following President Lee Jae-myung's visit to Brazil, K-Defense's push into Latin America is gaining momentum, and there is news that the company is exploring additional export opportunities in guided weapons and surveillance systems by leveraging its past experience ^[2]. Yangpa sees this expansion of the global order pipeline as a very positive signal.

⚖️ Clash Between Future Vision and Emerging Risks

Celebrating the 50th anniversary, CEO Koo Bon-sang emphasized 'creative thinking' as the true weapon and reaffirmed his commitment to innovation in defense technology ^[4]. In fact, external observations suggest that the company has invested in the AR startup 'DeepFine,' hinting at interest in expanding into new businesses ^[5]. Danggeun is paying close attention to these technology investment moves.

However, Dotori's perspective is quite sharp. This is because news has emerged of allegations regarding past procurement corruption following a high-intensity investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office ^[3]. This is a heavy issue that could not only raise concerns about setbacks in core naval and air force combat capability projects but also put the company's global credibility—the core of defense exports—to the test ^[3].

🤝 Striking a Balance Amidst Conflicting Views

Here, the views of Yangpa and Ttangkong collide head-on. While Yangpa believes that the overall strength of the defense sector in the market ^[6] and the momentum of entering Latin America will drive the company's fundamentals, Ttangkong points out that the uncertainty caused by legal risks and the potential for damage to global credibility should never be taken lightly.

Goguma summarizes the opinions of the four as follows: While the company is armed with strong order competitiveness and new business expansion, if the shield of transparency and credibility wavers, it could encounter unexpected reefs in the global market. Today's closing price was ₩639,000, ending with a rise. The most important question we must ask is how the market will digest the realization of export momentum versus the direction of internal risks moving forward.

📰 Reference News (6)

1

Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, LIG D&A, 'Three-way Race' for KF-21 Long-range Air-to-Air Missile - Financial News

파이낸셜뉴스 · 2026.07.28

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2

Effect of President Lee Jae-myung's Brazil visit… K-Defense and core mineral companies accelerate entry into Latin America

네이버뉴스 · 2026.07.30

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3

The Shadow of K-Defense Boom… Global Credibility Amid Procurement Corruption Allegations

네이버뉴스 · 2026.07.29

📰 View original

4

[LIG D&A 50 Years-27] CEO Koo Bon-sang: "Our True Weapon is Creative Thinking" - Big Data News

빅데이터뉴스 · 2026.07.29

📰 View original

5

Smart glass growth ignites… Capital inflows into domestic startups

네이버뉴스 · 2026.07.30

📰 View original

6

[KOSPI Index Futures & Options] Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix futures fall… Shipbuilding and Defense sectors strong

네이버뉴스 · 2026.07.30

📰 View original