K100 Jeep

K100 Jeep
Type	1/4-ton truck
Place of origin	South Korea
Production history
Designer	American Motors Corporation Shinjin Jeep Motor Company
Designed	1974–1975
Manufacturer	Shinjin Jeep Motor Company
Produced	1975–1978

The K100 "Jeep" is a 4x4 1/4-ton utility truck developed by American Motors Corporation and Shinjin Jeep Motor Company (now KG Mobility) for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in 1975.

Development

In March 1969, Shinjin Motor Company and Kaiser Jeep signed a technical partnership to locally assemble complete knock-down kits for 3,000 Jeep CJ-5s every year. To receive a cash loan from the government, Shinjin Motor claimed the Jeeps would be supplied to the Republic of Korea Reserve Forces; however, the company also had the intention of selling them to the public market. Later, the government was criticized for granting an unfair financial advantage to Shinjin Motor.

On 15 July 1969, Shinjin Motor began constructing a new factory in Busan. In the meantime, 450 CJ-5s were built in the factory located in Bupyeong from November 1969 to March 1970. The completion ceremony for the new factory was held on 15 April 1970.

On 3 April 1970, Shinjin Motor donated three CJ-5s to the Blue House, which were then transferred to the ROK Reserve Forces by President Park Chung Hee on 30 April, making them the first vehicles operated by the military. The Korean National Police also became the operator of CJ-5s on 10 December 1970.

On 29 September 1972, Shinjin Motor announced its plan to create a 50-50 joint venture with the American Motors Corporation, which had acquired Kaiser Jeep in 1970, to increase its capability of manufacturing the vehicles. On 14 July 1973, two companies signed an agreement for the creation of Shinjin Jeep to produce 500 Jeeps every month for both the Korean military and the domestic market. Shinjin Motor had manufactured a total of 3,800 CJ-5s under the previous agreement with Kaiser Jeep.

On 6 April 1974, Shinjin Jeep Motor Company, Ltd. was established. Since then, American Motors has stopped supplying the four-cylinder engine, instead switching to the six-cylinder engine, and has tried to sell the militarized Jeep, which was first revealed on 2 October, to the South Korean military.

See also

• K111 Jeep