South Korea has long punched above its weight as an industrial power. Facing a constant existential threat has strengthened its resilience, self-reliance and competitiveness.
Until recently, the Korean defense industry had not quite matched the export performance of the rest of the country’s economy. That’s changing: South Korea now ranks among the world’s top 10 arms exporters, notching $14 billion in exports last year to 12 countries, up from just four in 2022.
Korean exports, which are very competitively priced, are filling an obvious gap in the market. Some of its biggest customers are in Eastern Europe — Poland, for example. Countries that cannot afford high-end weapons from the U.S. or Western Europe are looking for alternatives that don’t come with the strings attached to arms from Russia, China or Turkey.
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