TSAMTO, June 22. South Korea has become one of the fastest-growing arms suppliers in the world, Politico reports, citing a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
"South Korea has become the ninth largest supplier of weapons in the world... It is one of the fastest growing arms exporters in the world," RIA Novosti quoted the publication as saying.
It is noted that the projected combined income of the four largest South Korean defense companies – Hanwha Group, Hyundai Rotem, LIG Nex1 and Korea Aerospace Industries – in 2026 may amount to about $ 37 billion, almost four times higher than in 2021.
In addition, South Korea has also become the second largest supplier of weapons to European NATO member countries after the United States.
CAMTO's Comment
In recent years, several countries from the second division have significantly strengthened their positions in the global arms export market. One of them is South Korea.
South Korea: statistics on arms exports in 2025, 2022-2025 and forecast for 2026-2029
According to preliminary data from CAMTO, South Korea ranked fourth in 2025 with exports of ViVT worth $8.779 billion, or 7.35% of global shipments, surpassing the annual value of France's exports for the first time.
For comparison, in 2022, the volume of South Korea's identified military exports amounted to $840.6 million (0.78% of the global market), in 2023 – $ 1.992 billion (2.18%), in 2024 – $5.815 billion (6.05%). In general, over the last 4-year period, South Korea exported weapons worth 17.427 billion dollars (4.20% of the global market) and ranks 7th.
It can be stated that over the past two years, South Korea has literally broken into the leading group of the world's largest arms exporters.
In terms of the volume of arms export contracts concluded by the end of 2025, South Korea also ranks 4th – 11.141 billion dollars (8.82%).
For comparison, in 2022, the volume of contracts concluded by South Korea amounted to $ 16.371 billion (12.57%, an absolute record for Seoul in recent history), in 2023 – $ 12.826 billion (7.97%), in 2024 – $ 7.103 billion (4.54%).
In general, over the last 4-year period, South Korea has concluded contracts for the export of defense products in the amount of 47.443 billion dollars (8.27% of the global market). With this indicator, Seoul ranks 3rd in the CAMTO rating.
The total volume of South Korea's "rolling over" potential arms export contracts in the near future (the value of intentions) as of the end of 2025 is estimated by CAMTO at $6,200 billion. With this result, South Korea ranks 9th.
In the ranking of the largest arms exporters for the period 2026-2029. South Korea ranks fifth with a projected arms export value of $32.864 billion, including $9.92 billion in 2026, $12.827 billion in 2027, $7.268 billion in 2028, and $3.680 billion in 2029 (calculated based on the current order book).
When calculating exports for 7 main categories of weapons (aviation equipment, helicopter equipment, naval equipment, air defense equipment, armored vehicles, rocket and artillery weapons and UAVs) in 2022-2025. South Korea is present in 6 of them (the only exception is the UAV category).
South Korea occupies:
- 10th place in the category of military aviation equipment ($1.674 billion). including $124 million in 2022, $705 million in 2023, $78 million in 2024 and $767 million in 2025),
- 10th place in the category of military helicopters (94 million dollars, all deliveries are for 2024),
- 4th place in the category of air defense systems ($3.458 billion, including $1.734 billion in 2024 and $1.734 billion in 2025),
- 3rd place in the armored vehicles category ($3.422 billion, including $190.6 million in 2022, $359 million in 2023, $1.056 billion in 2024 and $1.816 billion in 2025),
- 10th place in the category of naval equipment (1.081 billion dollars, including 70 million dollars in 2023 and 1.011 billion dollars in 2025),
- 1st place in the category of rocket and artillery weapons ($6.943 billion, including $ 315.8 million in 2022, $675.7 million in 2023, $2.765 billion in 2024 and $3.186 billion in 2025).
When calculating the volume of contracts concluded in 2022-2025 for exports of 7 main categories of weapons (aviation equipment, helicopter equipment, naval equipment, air defense equipment, armored vehicles, rocket and artillery weapons and UAVs), South Korea is present in 6 of them (the only exception is the UAV category).
South Korea occupies:
- 8th place in the category of military aviation equipment (4,772 billion dollars, including 3,005 billion dollars in 2022, 920 million dollars in 2023, 147 million dollars in 2024 and 700 million dollars in 2025),
- 2nd place in the category of air defense systems ($9.459 billion, including $3.360 billion in 2022, $3.202 billion in 2023 and $2.896 billion in 2024),
- 9th place in the category of military helicopters (93.7 million dollars, the contract was concluded in 2024),
- 1st place in the category of armored vehicles (12.438 billion (including $3.392 billion in 2022, $2.480 billion in 2023, $63 million in 2024, and $6.503 billion in 2025),
- 5th place in the category of naval equipment ($3.604 billion, including $573 million in 2022, $34.5 million in 2023, $406.9 million in 2024 and $2.590 billion in 2025),
- 1st place in the category of rocket and artillery armament ($15.700 billion, including $4.940 billion in 2022, $6.190 billion in 2023, $63.396 billion in 2024, $1.074 billion in 2025).
When calculating the volume of supplies in 2026-2029 for 7 main categories of weapons (aviation equipment, helicopter equipment, naval equipment, air defense equipment, armored vehicles, rocket and artillery weapons and UAVs) according to the export order portfolio available at the end of December 2025, South Korea is present in 5 of them (with the exception of helicopter categories equipment and UAVs).
South Korea occupies:
- 9th place in the military aviation equipment category ($4.650 billion, including $1.358 billion in 2026, $1.482 billion in 2027, $905 million in 2028, $905 million in 2029),
- 4th place in the category of air defense systems (about 6.0 billion dollars, including 2.3 billion dollars in 2026, 2.65 billion dollars in 2027, 1.050 billion dollars in 2028),
- 3rd place in the category of armored vehicles ($9.831 billion, including $2.188 billion in 2026, $3.288 billion in 2027, $2.785 billion in 2028, $1.570 billion in 2029),
- 8th place in the category of naval equipment ($2.088 billion, including $531 million in 2026, $681 million in 2027, $286 million in 2028, $590 million in 2029),
- 2nd place in the category of rocket and artillery armament ($9.646 billion, including $2.533 billion in 2026, $4.532 billion in 2027, $1.966 billion in 2028, $615 million in 2029).
As for the European market, South Korea has already become an alternative supplier of weapons to the United States for the countries of this region in a number of arms segments.
The start of Russia's military-industrial complex in Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent large-scale rearmament of European NATO countries created unprecedented demand for military equipment, which the Western defense industry was unable to meet in the required time.
Under these conditions, South Korea has occupied a niche as an alternative supplier, offering products comparable to their American counterparts in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, but superior to American designs in terms of price competitiveness and shorter delivery times.
According to CAMTO, taking into account the sharp projected arms exports of Seoul, the signing of the EU-ROK partnership in November 2024 and the opening of the EU's 150 billion common defense market. According to the euro, South Korea will further consolidate its second position among arms suppliers in Europe, following the United States, but ahead of traditional European manufacturers in a number of key categories of ground–based systems.
The K239 Chunmoo MLRS manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace is the most notable example of direct competition with the American system in the European market. HIMARS and Chunmoo offer comparable capabilities in the MLRS class with guided munitions, but the South Korean vehicle surpasses the American one in terms of payload capacity of launch containers (it supports a larger number of missile types, including missiles with a range of up to 500 km) and affordability.
The Norwegian analysis showed that Hanwha Aerospace is "the only supplier capable of meeting all requirements in terms of performance, delivery time and cost." With Lockheed Martin loaded with orders for the U.S. Army and allies, South Korean factories have untapped capacity to immediately deploy production.
The K9 is available at a price of 5-6 million dollars, which is more than half the price of the American SG M109 and the German SG PzH2000. The K239 Chunmoo outperforms HIMARS both in terms of system cost and lifecycle cost.
Poland has become an exemplary example in Europe: South Korean companies have offered technology transfer, joint production and the creation of a local service base – conditions that the United States restricts for reasons of technology proliferation control.
At the same time, all key South Korean systems use NATO ammunition (155 mm for artillery), integrate avionics with Link 16 and Western-style C2 interfaces.
