The Korea-US alliance stands at a crucial juncture. As geopolitical tensions deepen across the Indo-Pacific, both nations must move quickly to finalize the Reciprocal Defense Procurement memorandum of understanding. This long-anticipated agreement would modernize alliance cooperation, expand defense industrial integration and enhance regional deterrence at a time when shared security interests are under growing pressure.
In February 2024, Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced its intention to conclude the RDP memorandum and seek designation as a US “qualifying country.” The US Department of Defense, in response, published a Federal Register notice signaling its intent to proceed with a “blanket public interest determination” to complete the process. Yet, months later, the agreement remains unratified, despite its clear strategic and industrial importance to both sides.
The RDP memo is a bilateral framework that allows trusted allies to participate in each other’s defense procurement markets under reciprocal conditions. Once approved, Korea would join 28 partner nations, among them Japan, Australia, Turkey, Egypt and most NATO and EU members. RDP status provides key advantages: exemption from Buy American restrictions, tariff-free treatment and eligibility for select US defense R&D and sustainment programs.
According to US Government Accountability Office data, the Department of Defense purchased an average of about $5.2 billion annually from RDP partner countries between 2019 and 2023. For Korea, this represents not just a market opportunity but a pathway into the trusted defense production network that supports US and allied operations worldwide.
At present, defense procurement is excluded from the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. This exclusion means Korean defense products face a 50 percent price evaluation penalty in US Department of Defense tenders under the Buy American Act. RDP qualification would eliminate that barrier, enabling fair competition, reducing costs and creating new openings for collaboration between the Korean and US defense industries. It would also reinforce both nations’ supply chain resilience, a top priority under the US National Defense Industrial Strategy and Korea’s own defense innovation agenda.
Strategically, Korea’s inclusion in the RDP framework aligns closely with the US National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, both of which call for deeper cooperation among allies to sustain deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Nearly all major US allies, including Japan and Australia, already operate within this integrated “National Security Supply Network.” Korea’s participation would complete a key link in this architecture, improving joint sustainment, readiness and logistics coordination across the region.
The RDP also complements the US Regional Sustainment Framework, which emphasizes localized maintenance, repair and operations and production capacity among allies. Korea’s proven manufacturing ecosystem, from advanced artillery and armored vehicles to shipbuilding and aerospace systems, offers cost-effective, combat-tested solutions that could support US modernization and sustainment needs.
For Korea, RDP membership offers equally important benefits. It would strengthen the nation’s position within the global defense and security network, expand access to advanced technologies and create new opportunities for joint research, innovation and export collaboration with US and European partners. Potential concerns about domestic industry protection can be managed through calibrated acquisition regulations, as many existing RDP partners have successfully done.
The United States and Korea have already laid important groundwork through mechanisms such as the Security of Supply Arrangement. Finalizing the RDP memorandum would be a natural and necessary next step, an act that strengthens both nations’ defense industrial bases and sends a clear signal of shared commitment to stability in the Indo-Pacific.
In today’s rapidly changing security environment, the RDP memorandum is far more than a trade measure. It is a strategic enabler of alliance modernization, technological cooperation and deterrence credibility. Delaying it only risks missed opportunities and weaker readiness.
By concluding the RDP memorandum, Washington and Seoul would not only unlock new channels of defense industrial cooperation, but also reaffirm the strategic unity that has underpinned their alliance for more than seven decades. The time for action is now, decisively and together.
Man Ki Kim
Man Ki Kim is a professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy and senior adviser at corporate law firm Yulchon. His research focuses on global public procurement and defense procurement policy and practices. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.
khnews@heraldcorp.com
