{"id":62804,"date":"2022-10-11T14:55:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T14:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/11\/south-koreas-status-as-rising-defense-player-on-display-at-ausa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:39:51","slug":"south-koreas-status-as-rising-defense-player-on-display-at-ausa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa-digital-show-dailies\/2022\/10\/11\/south-koreas-status-as-rising-defense-player-on-display-at-ausa\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s status as rising defense player on display at AUSA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 South Korea\u2019<\/a>s defense export sales have already hit $15 billion this year, surpassing a record $7.25 billion last year, and could reach $20 billion by year\u2019s end if potential deals with Australia, Malaysia, Norway and Saudi Arabia break in Seoul\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dramatically growing figure, reported by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade<\/a>, isn\u2019t by accident but rather part of a deliberate strategy, observers say. South Korean firms are leveraging a combination of high-level deal-making across multiple administrations in Seoul, commercial technology, favorable government policies and industry appearances at arms fairs like the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual meeting in D.C. this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol <\/a>recently announced his aspiration to make his country one of the world\u2019s top four arms exporters. Already, Seoul is riding a wave of deals this year that includes a $5.8 billion pact with Poland <\/a>for Korea Aerospace Industries\u2019 FA-50 fighter jets, Hyundai Rotem\u2019s K2 Black Panther tanks, and Hanwha Defense\u2019s K9 Thunder howitzers and K10 resupply vehicles. The K9 also beat out French, Russian and Chinese offerings to win a $1.7 billion contract with Egypt in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Hanwha Defense announced the Pentagon had accepted its unmanned ground vehicle, the Arion-SMET, for a coveted spot in upcoming foreign comparative tests. Days earlier, the company announced its K9 howitzer and K10 had proved their interoperability with a variety of U.S. munitions at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea has set its sights on the U.S. market, and executives on the sidelines of the show said the Yuma tests and upcoming experiments for the Arion-SMET are paving the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really shown the U.S. community about the capability of this product here,\u201d Hanwha Defense USA\u2019s chief executive, John Kelly, told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of interest in K9 and K10 globally, as you can imagine, driven by current events in Ukraine, and we have a lot of existing customers who are looking at upgrading and buying additional capacity,\u201d he added. South Korea, Turkey, Poland, India, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Australia and Egypt all own K9 howitzers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One potent symbol of South Korea\u2019s competitiveness and cooperation with American firms is the AS-21 Redback. U.S. company Oshkosh Defense\u2019s bid to replace the Army\u2019s M2 Bradley<\/a> is based on the Redback; and in Australia\u2019s competition for a new tracked infantry fighting vehicle<\/a>, the Redback and German firm Rheinmetall\u2019s Lynx are still in contention, while British company BAE Systems and American business General Dynamics were eliminated in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kelly\u2019s reckoning, that settled the question of whether South Korea\u2019s defense exports can compete against their U.S. counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho were the two companies selected? They weren\u2019t U.S. companies,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThe reason we have just done the demonstrations here in Yuma is because the capabilities we have on both of those vehicles exceed what the U.S. already has in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no longer a question of: \u2018Can we compete?\u2019 I believe we can compete. I believe we are very competitive on price as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. company Oshkosh Defense\u2019s bid to replace the Army\u2019s M2 Bradley is based on the Redback, which is the South Korean system seen here. (Hanwha Defense)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A strong edge\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Beyond North America, South Korea\u2019s defense industry is marketing itself as the ideal partner for Eastern European countries in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. Whereas the West has been enmeshed in the war on terror since 2001, South Korea and its defense-industrial base have focused on conventional warfare since 1953, when an armistice agreement was signed amid the Korean War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a strong edge in terms of land-focused weapons systems, like the K9 howitzer and main battle tanks like the K2,\u201d Col. Kim Yong Sun, who oversees operations of South Korea\u2019s state arms procurement agency in the U.S., told Defense News earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPoland, the Baltic countries and other nations confronting Russia \u2014 they need weapons systems and raw materials right now, not in two, three or four years,\u201d Kim said. \u201cOn the Korean Peninsula and in the current geopolitical situation, main battle tanks, howitzers and that level of weapons systems are essential. We have the infrastructure to produce massive amounts of weapons systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way South Korea pursues buyers is through tailored sales pitches. Nikkei Asia recently reported<\/a> that Seoul conducts thorough analysis of the buyers\u2019 security challenges, finances and industrial makeup, and from there it might suggest jointly producing the arms with a local player or offer to sell cheaper, secondhand equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea also markets itself as more flexible when it comes to technology transfer agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Washington has been] very reluctant to share its technology with countries that buy U.S. weapons systems. But Korea, we are different,\u201d said Kim, who is both the defense cooperation and defense logistics attache in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSelling only a weapons system is just a very small scope of cooperation, but sharing the values, like technology, is very essential for other countries,\u201d Kim added. \u201cWe\u2019d like to give them knowledge, how to produce the weapons and maintain them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arion-SMET, a six-wheel drive unmanned ground vehicle, leverages commercial electric vehicle technology. (Hanwha Defense)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Not just K-pop\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

South Korea\u2019s aggregate defense exports for the last five years rose 177% over the previous five years, making it the world\u2019s eighth-largest defense exporter for that period, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That means South Korea is the globe\u2019s fastest-climbing country over those periods, beyond China and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey will go up in the rankings probably by next year,\u201d said Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Swedish think tank. \u201cThey\u2019re the quickest moving in the last decade or two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That growth is based on its expansion beyond historic customers in Southeast Asia like the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand to India, Australia and as far afield as the United Arab Emirates. Wezeman said Seoul made a splash 10 years ago when the U.K. passed over its own shipyards to buy South Korean naval tankers, and it has since become a powerhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re at the level where they can offer countries a slightly simpler combat aircraft, a slightly simpler corvette, a slightly simpler submarine at reasonable prices, with a track record where everything works,\u201d Wezeman added. \u201cThat\u2019s interesting for a lot of markets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some observers don\u2019t find South Korea\u2019s thriving defense industry hard to believe when the country has a long tradition of manufactured exports that now includes everything from cars, phones and semiconductors to container ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just K-pop that they\u2019re exporting,\u201d said Byron Callan, managing director of Capital Alpha Partners. \u201cWhy is it a surprise that a country with some pretty acute security needs on their northern border, and that\u2019s demonstrating they\u2019re a globally competitive technology producer, would also be an emerging power in defense markets?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t