A Study on Quality Assurance System Improvement for Military Commercial Goods Procurement

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the problems of the current quality assurance system for military commercial goods and propose evidence-based improvement measures to enhance system efficiency and reduce workload burdens on end-user military units. Particular emphasis is placed on addressing the increased operational burden on military supply organizations such as the Military Logistics Commands that resulted from the transfer of authority to the Procurement Quality Agency (PQA) following the 2020 reorganization of military procurement operations.Methods: This study conducted Focus Group Interviews (FGI) with 36 field practitioners engaged in military procurement and quality assurance operations between July 14-22, 2025. Participants were drawn from five organizations: Army Logistics Command (5 participants), Air Force Logistics Command (10 participants), Navy Logistics Command (7 participants), Marine Corps Logistics Command (9 participants), and Procurement Quality Agency (5 participants). The interviews focused on current quality assurance operations, clarity of regulations, inter-organizational cooperation systems, and IT system infrastructure.Results: The findings revealed critical systemic problems in Korea's military quality assurance framework. First, 86.3% of items delegated to the Procurement Quality Agency are re-delegated to end-user military units, creating severe workload imbalances where PQA inspectors handle 20 items annually while military unit inspectors manage 150 cases each. Second, all surveyed organizations (100%) lack integrated IT systems and rely entirely on manual Excel-based operations. Third, 80% of organizations reported unclear role definitions and insufficient information-sharing systems. Fourth, quality assurance type classification criteria lack clarity and consistency, with 80% of respondents indicating inconsistent application in actual operations.Conclusion: This study provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of Korea's military quality assurance system problems following the 2020 procurement reorganization through direct feedback from field practitioners. The derived improvement measures offer practical, implementable solutions that address real operational inefficiencies rather than providing merely theoretical frameworks. The findings underscore the necessity for clearly defined quality assurance responsibilities, establishment of integrated IT systems, and implementation of consistent classification criteria. These improvements are expected to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen national defense capabilities. However, this study is limited in quantitative analysis and cost-benefit assessment of proposed improvements, and the findings are specific to the Korean military procurement context; contextual adaptation is required for application in other countries. Future research should include quantitative analysis of implementation costs and expected benefits, as well as comparative studies with international best practices.