Korea Herald correspondent
TALLINN, Estonia — South Korea and Estonia are seeking to broaden defense industry cooperation beyond arms sales, with companies and industry groups taking a larger role as the two countries navigate different strategic concerns surrounding Russia.
For Estonia, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened concerns over its own long-term security, prompting Tallinn to sharply increase defense spending and strengthen its military capabilities. South Korea, meanwhile, has its own security interests to manage in dealing with Moscow, even as defense ties with Estonia continue to grow.
That effort was the focus of the first Korea-Estonia Defence Industry Forum, held in Tallinn on Thursday, where government officials, industry associations and defense companies from the two countries discussed joint development, technology cooperation, and local industrial partnerships.
At the forum, the Korea Defense Industry Association and the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association signed their first memorandum of understanding. Under the agreement, the two groups plan to expand exchanges between companies and explore joint projects and technology cooperation.
The event, organized with the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency drew representatives from around 40 Estonian institutions and companies. South Korean reporters visiting Estonia under the Korea Press Foundation’s “2026 KPF Diploma Program: Security in the AI Era” were also invited to attend.
The Korean delegation included officials from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
Seven South Korean defense companies also joined — Hanwha Aerospace, LIG Defense & Aerospace, Kia, Hyundai WIA, Korea Defense Industry, Victek and RFON.
From sales to partnerships
Opening the forum, KDIA Executive Vice Chairman Lee Nam-woo said cooperation should move beyond a conventional buyer-supplier relationship.
"Korea can offer not only specific defense systems such as K9 or Chunmoo, but also a wide range of customized forms of cooperation, including technology transfers, local production and MRO," Lee said.
Chunmoo is a South Korean rocket artillery system, and K9 is a self-propelled howitzer.
He said such cooperation could develop into "a deeper level of strategic partnership," building on experience from the K9 and Chunmoo programs.
Estonian officials delivered a similar message.
Angelica Tikk, director of the Innovation Department at Estonia's Ministry of Defense, said the two countries' defense industries were highly complementary.
She pointed to South Korea's manufacturing and system integration capabilities, while highlighting Estonia's strengths in software, cyber, autonomous systems and rapid testing of new technologies.
Tikk urged companies to look beyond simply buying and selling existing products and instead explore co-development and wider international markets.
Kim Il-eung, South Korea's first resident ambassador to Estonia, also called for closer industrial links. Following the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1991, Seoul formally began operating its resident embassy in Tallinn in 2024.
Kim said the two countries had already built a foundation through Estonia's acquisition of the K9 and Chunmoo, but could now connect their smaller technology companies and defense supply chains more closely.
"By working together, we can empower these enterprises to play a key role in building stable, resilient supply chains for our shared security," Kim said.
Finding areas for cooperation
The forum then focused on how such cooperation could work in practice.
In the first industry panel, representatives from Estonia's Milrem Robotics, Nortal and Skeleton Technologies joined Hanwha Aerospace and LIG Defense & Aerospace.
The companies discussed areas where South Korean manufacturing and defense platforms could be combined with Estonian technologies.
Milrem pointed to opportunities to link Estonia's autonomous ground systems and experience from Ukraine with South Korea's heavy military platforms and manufacturing capacity.
Nortal's Marko Kaseleht said the two sides should seek to create capabilities that "currently do not exist in the market."
He identified situational awareness, early warning, satellite imagery analysis and multisensor data fusion as areas with near-term potential.
A second session focused on Estonia's defense investment environment and industrial policy.
Estonian officials and industry representatives outlined efforts to expand local defense production, shorten technology development cycles and attract foreign defense companies.
They also discussed plans to increase the role of Estonian companies in major defense procurement projects.
For Korean companies, the message was that Estonia should be viewed not only as a relatively small domestic market, but also as a potential base for entering the wider European defense market.
Hanwha Aerospace said it was looking for Estonian partners in areas including C4ISR and communications.
Hyundai WIA said it was interested in localized manufacturing and technology partnerships.
Kia presented its tactical vehicles as platforms that could support drone launchers, air-defense radars and command-and-control systems.
The forum was later followed by pre-arranged business-to-business and government-to-business consultations.
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com
