(Dan Tri) – Experts explain why Korea has recently signed many arms sales contracts with Southeast Asian countries.
Korean FA-50 fighter (Photo: Bloomberg).
According to SCMP, South Korea is gradually becoming a new weapons supplier to Southeast Asian countries, after Malaysia’s recent arms purchase.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Defense said last week it had signed deals worth $2.28 billion at the Langkawi Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, including the purchase of 18 FA-50 light attack aircraft from Korea Aerospace.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia are two of South Korea’s largest arms buyers – accounting for 16% and 14% of the country’s sales, respectively.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, the country’s total arms sales have increased from 7.25 billion USD in 2021 to more than 17 billion USD last year, as the situation in the world and the Asian region heats up.
Ian Storey, an expert at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said South Korean weapons are an attractive option for Southeast Asian countries because unlike major powers, Seoul is willing to transfer
`Korean weapons are high-tech but cheaper than Western ones,` Mr. Storey said, predicting that Seoul’s defense companies will continue to expand their market share in the arms `pie`.
According to Jaehyon Lee, Southeast Asia expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Southeast Asian countries also see Korea as a reliable partner country with `non-hidden strategies` and less calculation.
`South Korea’s arms exports in recent years have tended to be more commercial than strategic,` Mr. Lee said.
Mr. Lee noted that South Korea’s success in the international arms market in recent years is thanks to the South Korean government’s strategy from the time of former President Moon Jae-in and his successor Yoon Suk-yeol.
Thomas Daniel, a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia, said the nearly 140% spike in South Korea’s defense exports means the main challenge for Seoul will be to complete the
South Korea is currently the third largest arms supplier to NATO and its member states, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) based in Sweden.
South Korea aims to become the world’s fourth largest arms exporter by 2027, after the US, Russia and France.
On the other hand, Ristian Supriyanto, an expert at the Australian National University, said Korea is not the only option for Southeast Asian countries.
`Türkiye, Brazil and other developing arms exporting countries also compete with South Korea to offer alternatives,` he said.