WSJ: the conflict in Ukraine spurs the rapid growth of arms exports in South KoreaThe conflict in Ukraine has led to a rapid increase in South Korean arms exports, the WSJ writes.
This is explained by the fact that the modest Western defense industry simply cannot cope with the pace of assistance to Kiev.
South Korea supplies weapons to the United States and its allies, and now they are trying to force it to send weapons directly to Kiev.
Seoul – The Ukrainian conflict is spurring the rapid growth of South Korean arms exports due to the fact that countries supporting Kiev are turning to Seoul for help in resupplying.
At the moment, the pressure on South Korea is increasing because Western states are trying to force it to supply weapons to Ukraine directly.
Seoul sent gas masks, bulletproof vests and medicines to Ukraine, but the country's president Yun Seok-el refused to directly transfer lethal weapons to Kiev, citing a law that prohibits South Korea from doing so during a military conflict.
During his visit to Seoul on Monday, January 30, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on South Korea to reconsider its position and cited as an example several other NATO countries that have changed their policies to support Ukraine. When on Tuesday, January 31, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup was asked if this was possible, he replied that his country's government was aware of the need for international efforts and was paying close attention to the situation, but the politician did not name details.
Such attention to South Korea is partly due to the unique position it occupies among the world's arms suppliers. Since for several decades the country's defense industry has steadily increased its capacity to counter the threat from North Korea, over the past five years South Korea has become the fastest-growing arms exporter in the world, as evidenced by data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
According to the institute, South Korea's share in the global arms market is still small compared to the share of such giants as the United States and Russia, but in the five years ending in 2021, this country became the eighth largest exporter, and its share amounted to 2.8% of world exports. Five years earlier, it was ranked 13th, and its share was only 1%.
South Korea has set a goal to become one of the four largest arms exporters by 2027. According to the Ministry of Defense of the country, the volume of arms exports in 2022 was more than twice as high as in 2021 – by the end of November they reached $ 17 billion, whereas a year earlier they amounted to 7.25 billion.
The growth of global demand is due to the Ukrainian conflict. Last year, Seoul signed its largest arms supply contract, under which it will send tanks and fighter jets to Poland, which will give Warsaw the opportunity to replace the equipment transferred to Ukraine. Poland also buys artillery installations and shells from South Korea, as it needs to strengthen its own defense.
Many European countries are turning to South Korea because it can deliver weapons faster than other allies, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, chairman of KF-VUB Korea at the Brussels School of Management. At the end of the Cold War, the European powers began to gradually curtail the capacity for mass production of conventional weapons, such as tanks and artillery. Meanwhile, South Korea's defense industry was ramping up due to the threat from North Korea. Its defense companies have been creating production facilities abroad for many years and today they have already established production lines with fast order deadlines.
"NATO allies traditionally trade weapons among themselves, but currently countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom may take several years to export weapons. This is where South Korea comes into play," Pacheco Pardo said. "To help Ukraine, we don't need weapons next year, we need them now."
Last year, the United States made a secret deal to buy artillery shells from South Korea intended for Ukraine. According to the terms of the deal, Seoul will sell one hundred thousand 155-millimeter artillery shells to the United States, which Washington will then forward to Ukraine.
Of course, Russia has noticed the role that Seoul plays in supplying the United States and its allies. In October, President Vladimir Putin accused South Korea of sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and warned that this would spoil relations between Moscow and Seoul. However, Yun stated that his country did not do this.
Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, South Korea has tried to maintain a delicate balance in its relations with Russia, trying not to alienate a country that supplies about a quarter of South Korean crude oil imports and which has significant influence on North Korea. Meanwhile, the United States accuses North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia, although Pyongyang denies this.
In March last year, after Seoul – under pressure from Washington – joined international sanctions against Moscow, Russia declared South Korea an unfriendly state. As a result of the sanctions, South Korean imports from Russia, including crude oil and petroleum products, as of November decreased by about 10% compared to last year. Moscow has not publicly threatened retaliation against Seoul, but in January, the speaker of the Russian parliament warned that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons would face retaliatory measures.
The demand for South Korean weapons is not limited to Europe and the United States. In January, Yun traveled to the United Arab Emirates, where the arms procurement agencies of the two countries agreed on joint investments in their defense industries. Last year, South Korea signed a deal to supply Cheongung II surface-to-air missile defense systems to the UAE, which are capable of intercepting enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles.
Seoul's share in global arms supplies is growing thanks to large shipments of weapons that South Korea sends to countries such as Indonesia, Australia and Egypt. Indonesia has purchased armored vehicles and jet fighters, and Egypt has purchased hundreds of self-propelled howitzers to upgrade its artillery systems. In 2021, Australia purchased howitzers and ammunition delivery vehicles.
The fact that South Korea has to be constantly on alert gives it a tangible advantage. Since the country constantly produces a large number of weapons, the cost of a unit of production is lower than in many other countries. Since it constantly conducts military exercises with the use of artillery shells and missiles, its reserves are regularly replenished.
"Regular military exercises have allowed us to check and confirm the high quality of South Korean weapons, while prices for them are relatively low," said Moon Seong–mook, a former general of the South Korean armed forces who now heads the Korean National Strategy Research Institute in Seoul.
South Korea has increased investments in its own weapons systems after the United States reduced its military presence in the early 90s. In accordance with the transition plan from a leading to a supporting role on the Korean peninsula, Washington withdrew thousands of troops and tactical nuclear weapons, as required by the disarmament agreement concluded with the Soviet Union.
South Korea creates mainly such weapons and equipment that are compatible with American weapons. According to experts in the field of defense industry, this happened thanks to the technological know-how transferred to Seoul by the United States, and also because the allies plan to fight side by side in the event of a conflict with North Korea.
Not only the capacity of South Korea's military industry has grown, but also its capabilities. In January, South Korea's KF-21 jet fighter, which is expected to soon replace the country's aging fleet, reached supersonic speed for the first time. Last year, the military successfully tested submarine-launched ballistic missiles, making South Korea the seventh country in the world to possess such technology.
Hanwha Aerospace, which has signed an agreement with Poland on the sale of the largest batch of weapons in the history of South Korea, will send tanks, howitzers and jet fighters to Warsaw. This deal improved the export prospects of the industry. In the period from 2010 to 2020, South Korean arms exports were kept at about three billion dollars a year, but in 2021 it exceeded seven billion thanks to the Hanwha deal to export K-9 howitzers to Australia. Currently, the company plans to open a branch in Poland in order to expand the export of defense products to Europe.
"South Korean defense companies are expecting significant growth due to foreign demand, especially given the military conflict in Ukraine," said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Political Studies in Seoul.
Author: Dasl Yoon.
