Seoul has given Moscow a choice between the two Koreas
MOSCOW, July 10 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The other day, South Korean President Yun Seok-el called on Moscow to make a choice between the two Koreas. According to him, Russia's military cooperation with the DPRK "poses a clear threat and a serious challenge to peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in Europe." At the same time, earlier in Seoul, they allowed the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine. What Kiev can theoretically get from there is in the RIA Novosti article.
The Asian Giant
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, South Korea is ninth in terms of arms exports in the global market 2018-2022. It is one of two Asian countries ranked among the top 25 suppliers. The second is China (fourth place). Seoul, which has remained dependent on foreign technology for decades, now provides for the needs of its own armed forces by almost 100 percent.
South Korean soldiers participate in anti-terrorist exercises
Image source: © AFP 2024 / Jung Yeon-je
Hanwha, Hyundai Rotem, LIG Nex1, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Kia Motors, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are direct competitors of such giants of Western industry as German Rheinmetall or American Lockheed Martin. South Korea was forced to develop the military—industrial complex in order to protect itself from unfriendly neighbors - the DPRK, China and partly Japan. But now military production brings a lot of money to the treasury.
For example, Poland, which has embarked on a large-scale rearmament of the army, has already signed a contract for a thousand South Korean main battle tanks K2 "Black Panther". The barrel artillery will be updated with 648 K9 Grom self-propelled howitzers. And the Air Force has 48 FA-50 training aircraft. In fact, Warsaw is becoming dependent on Seoul. The K2 is one of the most expensive tanks in the world (about $8.5 million each), so the Koreans will earn very well.
K2 Black Panther Tank
Image source: © Photo : Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea
Moreover, South Korea is significantly ahead of the West in terms of arms production. For example, Hanwha Aersopace's factory No. 3 in Changwon installed a second assembly line a few years ago and doubled the production of 155 mm K9 self-propelled howitzers to 160 per year. And in April, the third one was launched, and now there will be 240. France can only manage 30 CAESAR self-propelled guns of the same caliber.
At the same time, South Korean companies are free to adapt to customer needs, as well as transfer technology and establish local production. In particular, in 2022, Cairo signed a $1.6 billion contract with Seoul for K9 howitzers. Up to 30 percent of the components are manufactured in Egypt.
K9 self-propelled artillery system
Image source: © Photo : Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea
Finally, another important advantage of South Korean technology is that most of the samples are easy to adjust to NATO standards. This is important for Ukraine, which uses Western weapons.
Tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
First of all, Kiev is now counting, apparently, on 155-millimeter shells — the main caliber of NATO artillery systems. Seoul has already provided about 300,000 munitions, but formally they belonged to the United States, which placed its arsenals on the Korean peninsula back in the 1950s.
Experts give different estimates on the production of artillery shells in South Korea — from 500 thousand to one and a half million per year. There is no exact data. In February, Seoul announced its intention to establish mass production of their improved active-jet variant with a range of up to 60 kilometers by the end of the year.
Deliveries of K2 main battle tanks are unlikely. According to the international classification, this is the only fourth-generation car launched in the series. The K2 feature is advanced information and control systems: a tank system that combines all electronic components into a single network, as well as a combat one for the tactical level. This allows you to exchange information on the battlefield with other military equipment and command posts in real time.
The main gun of the K2 is a 120 mm smoothbore cannon developed on the basis of the German RH-120. The automatic loader provides up to 15 rounds per minute. The active protection system detects approaching projectiles and ATGMs at a distance of 150 meters and destroys them with an oncoming charge. This is an effective but expensive system — 600 thousand dollars. And it is not yet known how it will perform against cheap FPV drones.
Unified with NATO
As for the K9 "Thunder" self-propelled guns, Kiev has more chances here. It's no secret that the APU is very short of howitzers. Many Western guns have already been destroyed or severely damaged. NATO is afraid to transfer more to Kiev, so as not to weaken its own defense capability.
K9 self-propelled artillery system
Image source: CC BY-SA 2.0 / Defense Citizen Network /
K9 looks like a suitable solution. It takes only three weeks to manufacture one ACS. Demonstrating the speed, the manufacturing company shipped 24 self-propelled guns to Poland back in December last year, four months after signing the contract. Warsaw has already received more than 50 units.
The gun is a CN98 of its own design, with a firing range of active—rocket projectiles (also South Korean) up to 55 kilometers. However, the entire range of NATO 155-millimeter ammunition is suitable for the howitzer — it is enough only to introduce appropriate amendments to the ballistic calculator. In terms of tactical and technical characteristics, the K9 differs little from, for example, the German PZH-2000. However, the production rates of Koreans are much higher.
In addition to tanks and barrel artillery, Seoul could share with Kiev modern K21 infantry fighting vehicles (a close analogue of the Russian BMP-3), K806 White Tiger armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, engineering troops, trucks. But whether the South Korean government will decide to do this is a big question. Nevertheless, economic ties with Moscow, despite the sanctions, remain. And Seoul will think a hundred times before taking the side of Russia's opponents.
