S. Korea, Poland reaffirm arms cooperation as Seoul seeks to finalize W9tr K2 tank deal

South Korea’s arms exports are expected to rebound despite concerns that the deepening political turmoil surrounding President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law controversy is undermining confidence in the country and impacting its defense industry, according to industry watchers and insiders.
The rosy outlook comes as senior defense officials of South Korea and Poland reaffirmed the countries’ arms cooperation during a meeting held in Warsaw last month, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Tuesday. Korea hopes to finalize the estimated 9 trillion won ($6.15 billion) contract to export 820 units of the K2 tank produced by Hyundai Rotem Co. to Poland.
Korea’s arms exports are likely to expand this year in line with US President Donald Trump's recent proposal to have North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states raise their defense spending to 5 percent of their gross domestic product, according to an expert at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
“Overall, the global defense market is projected to expand this year on the back of Trump’s proposal to dramatically boost NATO defense spending,” Kim Mi-jung, a defense industry researcher at KIET, told The Korea Herald on Tuesday.
“The defense supply chain in Europe has yet to recover, which is projected to provide opportunities for Korea’s arms exports,” she added.
Kim also pointed to Trump’s recent remarks in which he said that the US may collaborate with allies in its plans to build more naval vessels. In a call with the now-impeached Yoon in November, Trump said the US seeks to work with South Korea in naval shipbuilding, exports, repairs and maintenance, Yoon’s office said then.
In line with Kim’s sentiment, a DAPA official recently told reporters that Korea’s arms industry exports are likely to rebound this year, despite having declined for two consecutive years.
“Around 20 export deals that were sluggish throughout last year are projected to gain momentum,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
“Through the deals, we expect to see an all-time high export volume as well as meet our goal to become one of the world’s four largest defense exporters by 2027,” the official added.
The official said that alongside the plan to take a step closer to becoming the world’s fourth-largest defense exporter, DAPA is eyeing an annual target of $23 billion in arms exports by the end of the year.
Despite setting an annual target of at least $20 billion for last year, Korea’s arms exports came to only $9.5 billion for the cited period. The figure reached $13.5 billion in 2023 after hitting a high of $17.3 billion the previous year.
Korea’s arms deal with Poland is likely to work as fuel for an expansion of Seoul’s arms exports, observers said.
Last month, Cho Hyun-ki, deputy minister for the current capabilities program at DAPA, held talks with Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Bejda, during which they reviewed the implementation of their arms agreements. Cho was quoted as saying that Poland is a crucial partner for Korea’s defense industry while discussing deals tied to the K2 tank and K9 self-propelled howitzer, according to DAPA.
In July 2022, South Korea signed a framework agreement with Poland for arms exports, which was followed by the signing of the first round of contracts, valued at $12.4 billion. Since December 2023, individual contracts under the second phase of agreements have been gradually executed, starting with Hanwha Aerospace Co.'s delivery of 152 K9 self-propelled howitzer units.