Responsibly Spreading Arms

FORUM Staff

South Korea’s defense industry is manufacturing rocket launchers, tanks, howitzers, fighter jets and other military equipment to backfill depleted arsenals of mostly Western countries that supply arms directly to Ukraine.

Though it provides humanitarian and other assistance to Ukraine, the nation Russia invaded, South Korea has not supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine because Russia is a North Korea ally. Seoul had hoped Moscow would press the North to comply with United Nations mandates forbidding the development of ballistic missiles, nuclear warheads and other weapons that threaten South Korea. But the North has exported ballistic missiles and other weaponry to Russia, which Russia used in its war against Ukraine, according to a statement by 50 nations and the European Union in January 2024 that condemned the exchange.

South Korea, which wants to be the world’s fourth-largest exporter of weapons by 2027, is well positioned to deliver large quantities of comparatively low-priced armaments. While many nations lowered defense procurements after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, South Korea increased weapons production to deter North Korean hostilities. The two nations have technically remained at war since the 1953 armistice ended hostilities in the Korean War. “In the post-Cold War era, South and North Korea have been virtually the only countries that have remained on a constant war footing, with large artillery and other weapons stockpiles ready to use,” Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, told The New York Times in September 2023.

Designed to counter North Korea’s Soviet-based defense systems, South Korea’s conventional weapons are coveted by nations that sent their stockpiles to Ukraine. The armaments also are compatible with NATO and United States military equipment. “Many thought that conventional weapons like battle tanks and artillery systems do not necessarily belong to the battle environment in the 21st century,” Dae-young Kim, executive vice president of South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, told ABC News in April 2023. “But as seen in the Ukraine war, the artillery capabilities still play an essential role.”

Major defense companies in Germany, the U.S. and elsewhere have reduced production of conventional weapons, and it would take years to gear up to meet demand, the television network reported. “Most of this is not super high-end military equipment, but it’s very good conventional military equipment and vehicles,” said Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

Deal fuels surge in exports

Spurred by a $13.7 billion weapons sale to Poland, South Korea’s defense exports topped $17 billion in 2022, an increase of about $10 billion over the prior year, Reuters reported in May 2023. Poland imported the new weapons after sending its reserves to Ukraine, Chae Woo-suk, president of the Korea Defense Industry Association, told ABC News.

Polish President Andrzej Duda welcomed South Korea’s first shipment of K2 battle tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers in December 2022, praising their quick arrival, The Washington Post newspaper reported. Then-Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak was similarly complimentary upon delivery of South Korean FA-50 light combat aircraft in August 2023, Reuters reported.

Warsaw’s purchase was a boon to South Korean defense companies, which also are providing technical knowledge and training to help Poland manufacture its own armaments. “My workers are very happy to share our technology,” Lee Boo-hwan, a Hanwha executive, told CNN in November 2022. “It is our main strategic focus to enter [new] markets.”

Besides Poland and other European customers such as Estonia, Finland and Norway, Indo-Pacific and Middle Eastern nations also are buying weapons from South Korean defense companies, Foreign Policy magazine reported in August 2023. The United Arab Emirates, for instance, will pay about $3.5 billion for Cheongung II midrange surface-to-air missiles, the EurAsian Times website reported. South Korean defense companies also sell weapons to Australia and Southeast Asian countries. Meanwhile, Seoul maintains a robust domestic supply chain to equip its own military and keep the North at bay, The New York Times reported.

South Korea’s dramatic uptick in international weapons sales makes it “the undisputed leader among emerging arms exporters,” The Economist magazine reported in September 2023. The trend dovetails with a tenet of the trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, in late August 2023. Collectively, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to broaden collaboration in areas ranging from economics to security. 

Hanwha, South Korea’s largest defense contractor, plans to triple its production capacity in 2024, The New York Times reported. Among the nation’s notable weapons systems are Hanwha’s K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer, Hyundai Rotem’s K2 battle tank and Korea Aerospace Industries’ FA-50 light attack aircraft, broadcaster CNBC reported in August 2023. South Korea also is developing a medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, among other advanced technology, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

Thirty-one South Korean companies were among the exhibitors from 35 countries at the International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland, in September 2023, the largest annual military trade show in Central and Eastern Europe. 

South Korea strives to increase its defense exports responsibly. A presidential decree that reinforces the country’s Foreign Trade Act declares the equipment must be used for “peaceful purposes,” CNN reported. South Korea also is a signatory to the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that dictates who gets weapons and under what conditions they may be used.

The nation also is committed to vetting supplies sent to Ukraine. South Korea in 2023 announced a $394 million aid package for Ukraine in 2024, an eightfold increase, Reuters reported. The funds are for reconstruction, humanitarian aid and international organizations.

An international player

South Korea was not among the world’s top 30 arms exporters just two decades ago, Foreign Policy reported. Now, President Yoon Suk Yeol has challenged the nation to trail only the U.S., Russia and France in global weapons sales by 2027. In addition to boosting the domestic economy, the defense exports demonstrate the nation’s viability as a major political and military security collaborator. “The Korean government is promoting military diplomacy and defense cooperation so that the relationship with the purchasing country can develop into various partnerships beyond just a seller-buyer relationship,” Seoul defense officials told Reuters.