South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol hosted a meeting on defense exports at Korea Aerospace Industries on Nov. 24. There, the government said that South Korea would become the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter with a global market share of at least 5 percent by 2027.
According to the government, the ratio of R&D budget to the total defense budget will be raised to at least 10 percent by 2027 and 100 non-large companies in the industry will be selected by 2026 so that their defense R&D can be supported. At the same time, technological development projects will be launched regarding 40 key materials and components and 50 billion won a year will be invested in training 3,300 engineers in defense machinery, aviation, equipment, etc.
“More than one trillion won will be invested by 2027 in technological cooperation between the private and public sectors so that more technologies can be transferred to and from the private sector and more innovation can be simultaneously achieved in the two sectors,” it said, adding, “Hardware exports will be more closely combined with technology transfer, localization and repair and maintenance services so that exporters’ opportunities can be expanded in clients’ supply chains.”
The meeting was the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s first Defense Export Strategy Meeting. He promised extensive support at the meeting attended by the heads of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of National Defense, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and more than 60 companies in the industry. South Korea’s annual defense exports jumped from US$3 billion to US$17 billion this year. From 2017 to 2021, its global market share was 2.8 percent, the eighth-highest.
