In the past five years, it was found that Korea's arms exports increased the most among the top 10 arms exporters.
According to the report “Characteristics of the Defense Industry and Export Strategy” published by the Export-Import Bank of Korea last month, it was found that South Korea’s arms exports increased by 176.8% over the five years from 2017 to 2021 compared to the previous five years (2012-2016). .
This is the largest increase rate among the top 10 arms exporters such as the United States, Russia, France, China, and Germany.
Korea's share of global arms exports increased from 1.0% in 2012-2016 to 2.8% in 2017-2021, becoming the world's 8th largest arms exporter.
Last year, thanks to the expansion of exports of K9 self-propelled artillery, frigates, and T-50, arms exports surpassed US$ 7 billion and about 9.2 trillion won in Korean money, setting an all-time high.
Last year was the first time that defense exports exceeded imports, which was about $5 billion annually.
Major export partners were Turkey (28%), Indonesia (27%), and Iraq (23%) from 2012 to 2016, and from 2017 to 2021, the Philippines (16%), Indonesia (14%), It was found that the UK (14%) changed in that order.
In the past five years, the main export weaponry was ships, which accounted for 68% of the total, followed by artillery (19%) and aircraft (12%).
The defense industry expects the growth of arms exports to continue this year as the demand for weapons from NATO member countries has increased, especially for defense weapons, due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
(Photo=Courtesy of Hanwha Defense, Yonhap News)