Big year for South Korean arms sales masks vulnerabilities in national defense



Analysis Big year for South Korean arms sales masks vulnerabilities in national defense ROK faces ammunition shortages and shrinking troop numbers even as weapons industry seeks to project military strength John LeeDecember 16, 2022 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON ROK Marines standing in formation, Feb. 14, 2014 \| Image: DVIDSHUB via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared that he seeks to make South Korea one of the world’s top four weapons suppliers, and so far, the country appears to be successfully working toward that goal, inking record sales this year thanks in large part to a $15 billion arms deal with Poland. For wide–ranging reasons, such as its long alliance with the U.S., established industrial base, shifting Middle Eastern geopolitics and the nature of the ongoing Korean War, the ROK has earned a reputation as a reliable arms exporter and as a formidable military power in its own right. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01Trump’s Alaska LNG claim shows who really runs the US-South Korea alliance 02South Korea’s missile defense push raises new questions over wartime stocks 03South Korea bank hacks expose weak links beyond core financial systems 04Lee-Zelensky feud exposes South Korea’s widening Ukraine policy dilemma 05Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 06Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls 07North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy 08South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus

Analysis

Big year for South Korean arms sales masks vulnerabilities in national defense

ROK faces ammunition shortages and shrinking troop numbers even as weapons industry seeks to project military strength

John LeeDecember 16, 2022

Big year for South Korean arms sales masks vulnerabilities in national defense

ROK Marines standing in formation, Feb. 14, 2014 | Image: DVIDSHUB via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared that he seeks to make South Korea one of the world’s top four weapons suppliers, and so far, the country appears to be successfully working toward that goal, inking record sales this year thanks in large part to a $15 billion arms deal with Poland.

For wide–ranging reasons, such as its long alliance with the U.S., established industrial base, shifting Middle Eastern geopolitics and the nature of the ongoing Korean War, the ROK has earned a reputation as a reliable arms exporter and as a formidable military power in its own right.

LATEST ANALYSIS

01Trump’s Alaska LNG claim shows who really runs the US-South Korea alliance
02South Korea’s missile defense push raises new questions over wartime stocks
03South Korea bank hacks expose weak links beyond core financial systems
04Lee-Zelensky feud exposes South Korea’s widening Ukraine policy dilemma
05Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump
06Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls
07North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy
08South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus

Big year for South Korean arms sales masks vulnerabilities in national defense

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John Lee