Union Biometrics has won a KRW 17.2 billion contract from South Korea’s Army headquarters to build a new automated access control system for military bases, replacing aging gate equipment at 34 units nationwide and installing new systems at brigade-level units by the end of the year.
The KOSDAQ-listed company disclosed the award in a regulatory filing. The contract is worth KRW 17,172,830,000, equal to 33.45 percent of Union Biometrics’ revenue last year, and runs until December 24. The Armed Forces Financial Management Corps put the project out to an urgent open tender with the aim of completing it within the year, and two companies bid: Union Biometrics and An Robotics, a maker of food processing and automation equipment that has expanded into systems integration and access control for public and defense facilities.
According to the Army’s request for proposals, the system is meant to automate the full entry process, from access requests and approvals to authentication and record-keeping, as fewer troops are available to staff guard posts. The scope covers personnel and vehicle access control, application software, servers and system integration, a standalone CCTV network, and supporting network infrastructure. The Army is also bringing biometrics to weapons storage, with plans for smart gun cabinets that require fingerprint or vein authentication from both the soldier and the supervising officer.
Union Biometrics, founded in 2000, makes face, iris and fingerprint recognition terminals and security software, and has recently been supplying access control for AI data center projects in North America and Europe. The Army project extends its role beyond supplying biometric entry terminals to integrating servers, networks and video monitoring. The company has supplied security systems to the Government Complex Daejeon, Gyeryongdae military headquarters, the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, the National Election Commission and the Military Manpower Administration, and is currently building access control for the Ministry of National Defense’s main building.
This is the fourth Army access control contract the company has won since 2020. The value of those awards has grown from KRW 4.8 billion in 2020 to KRW 5.5 billion in 2022, KRW 9.9 billion in 2024 and KRW 17.2 billion this year.
The company plans to complete delivery and installation by December and book the revenue in the fourth quarter. A company representative said Union Biometrics expects to return to an operating profit in that quarter. It reported consolidated revenue of KRW 25.2 billion and an operating loss of KRW 1.2 billion for the first half of 2026.
Sources: THE ELEC
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
