South Korea Is Cashing In on NATO's Standoff With Russia

South Korea's defense exports will increase up to 87 percent from 2021 in the next four years as it solidifies its position as a major arms producer, according to a new report.

South Korea's defense exports will hit around $23.4 billion by 2027, compared to $12.5 billion generated in 2021, according to The Korea Times, which cited a publication by the state-run Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade think tank. South Korea's defense industry will account for around 69,000 jobs by 2027, up from the 33,000 attributed to the industry in 2021, the report said.

Seoul has quickly stepped up its arms exports, moving to become a big name in arms selling as the war in Ukraine fuels demand for military equipment and weapons. However, South Korea has refused to directly supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, opting to send humanitarian assistance and other military supplies for Kyiv's war effort.

South Korea has been wary of antagonizing Moscow by providing lethal aid to Ukraine. But North Korea, a constant looming presence and threat to Seoul, has "covertly" provided artillery to Russia for use against Ukraine, the U.S. said in November after Pyongyang denied the claims, according to a CNN report.

South Korea's arms sales skyrocketed by almost $10 billion between 2021 and 2022, reaching more than $17 billion last year, according to a Reuters report from May. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has committed to placing Seoul among the world's top arms exporters in the next few years, competing with the likes of the U.S., the U.K., China, and Germany.

"By entering the world's top four defense exporters after the United States, Russia, and France, the [South Korean] defense industry will become a strategic industrialization and a defense powerhouse," Yoon said last summer.

A significant part of Seoul's push into the arms market is through pacts with Poland. On Thursday, Yoon said Seoul and Warsaw had agreed that Poland would buy more weapons from South Korea. This comes after the two countries agreed Seoul's largest-ever arms deal, worth $13.7 billion, last year.

In September 2022, Poland signed a deal with South Korea to buy 48 FA-50 light attack aircraft, to be delivered by 2028. The FA-50 jets will fill the gaps in Poland's air force after Warsaw decommissioned its Soviet-era jets, the South Korean defense ministry said in mid-June.

A total of 12 fighters will be delivered to Poland by the end of this year, the ministry said in a press release. Poland is one of Kyiv's allies that donated its Soviet-era MiG-29 jets to Ukraine's air force.

Warsaw has also agreed to a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy South Korean K2 main battle tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers.

"I have no doubt that 2022 will mark the beginning of upcoming years of fruitful defense industry cooperation between Poland and South Korea," Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, said in November. The same month, Seoul and Warsaw agreed another contract, worth $5.7 billion, for the supply of South Korean K2 main battle tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers.

The move now places Seoul in an ideal position to expand arms sales into European markets. "The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and others were thinking of buying defense products only in Europe," Oh Kyeahwan, a director at Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea's largest defense contractor, told Reuters. "But now it is more well known that you can buy at a low price and have it delivered quickly from Korean companies."

Newsweek has contacted the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade for comment.