OPEN LETTER: Thank You, Seoul—K-Defense Saves Western Deterrence

An Unprecedented Jump in Profitability

According to CHOSUNBIZ, South Korea’s “Big Four” defense conglomerates—Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, Korea Aerospace Industries, and LIG Nex1—have seen a dramatic increase in profits, driven by exports and new international partnerships. Their combined revenue reached approximately 40.9 trillion won in 2025, up 81.6% year-over-year.

Analysts at several South Korean brokerage firms now project that the combined revenue of these four companies could reach $37.4 billion in 2026, a growth trajectory that would confirm South Korea’s enduring position among the world’s major defense powers.

Hanwha Aerospace Leads the Way

Hanwha Aerospace, the country’s largest defense company, reported a 21% increase in quarterly operating profit in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. Since 2022, the company has sold its K9 Thunder howitzers to Poland, Estonia, Romania, and Norway, along with its Chunmoo rocket launchers.

This strong financial performance allows the company to reinvest heavily in research and development, thereby consolidating a competitive advantage that could prove lasting against Western competitors, who are sometimes hampered by slower and more bureaucratic procurement processes.

An industrial sector that doubles its profits in a single year while equipping NATO allies is exactly the kind of dynamism the West needs to stay ahead of its adversaries.

A Clear Goal Set by Seoul

According to the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the country is now aiming for $20 billion in arms exports by 2030, with the goal of capturing a 6% share of the global market. DAPA Minister Lee Yong-cheol noted that South Korea had surpassed $15 billion in exports in 2025, marking the end of two consecutive years of decline.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back emphasized the need to further strengthen export efforts, stating that the country is “in a race to become one of the top four nations in the arms industry.”

Latin America: A New Strategic Frontier

Beyond Europe, South Korea is now banking on a breakthrough in Latin America, a region where competition from traditional Western suppliers remains less intense than in the European market. This geographic diversification is part of a long-term strategy aimed at avoiding sole dependence on orders linked to the war in Ukraine, which could one day dry up.

This cautious approach illustrates an industrial vision that goes beyond mere short-term opportunism: Seoul is building a sustainable commercial presence, not just a one-off response to the current European crisis.

A nation that is already preparing its defense industry for the post-war era in Ukraine demonstrates a strategic clarity that many Western governments—entangled in short-term electoral concerns—would do well to emulate.

Filling the Gap Left by Decades of Disarmament

For decades, several European countries scaled back their military production capabilities, convinced that peace on the continent was assured after the end of the Cold War. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brutally exposed the limitations of this assumption, forcing Europe to urgently rebuild the stockpiles and production capabilities it had allowed to erode.

South Korea, thanks to a defense industrial base that remained robust—a direct legacy of ongoing tensions with North Korea—was able to fill a significant portion of this gap more quickly than many European manufacturers themselves, who are often constrained by aging production lines.

Poland: A Showcase for This Strategic Cooperation

Poland remains the most emblematic client in this relationship, having signed what remains one of the largest arms contracts in recent history, including approximately 1,000 tanks, hundreds of self-propelled artillery pieces, and dozens of fighter jets. This Polish-Korean partnership concretely illustrates how an Asian ally can directly strengthen NATO’s eastern flank in the face of the Russian threat.

This cooperation goes beyond a simple commercial transaction: it forges lasting industrial and military ties between Seoul and Warsaw, strengthening the cohesion of an expanded Western front against Moscow’s revisionist ambitions.

The fact that Poland, on the front lines against Russia, has chosen Korean industrial reliability rather than waiting for delayed Western deliveries speaks volumes about the real priorities of a country that knows it is under threat.

Behind the United States, ahead of all others

According to the Institute for Security and Development Policy, South Korea is now the second-largest supplier of arms to European NATO member states, just behind the United States, with a European market share of approximately 8.6%. This position now surpasses that of traditional arms powers such as Israel and France in this specific market.

This rapid rise, documented by several independent research institutes, illustrates just how much the Western defense architecture has transformed in just a few years, incorporating non-traditional partners into its collective deterrence framework.

A trend that has caught the attention of military analysts

Retired Lieutenant General Chun In-bum, interviewed by the Institute for Security and Development Policy, points out that South Korea, having started out as a mere arms importer, rose to become the world’s fourth-largest exporter in 2025, climbing six spots in a single year—a trajectory virtually unparalleled in the recent history of the global defense industry.

This rapid rise, however, raises legitimate questions about the South Korean industry’s ability to sustain such a pace of growth over the long term, particularly regarding skilled labor and supply chains for critical components.

Climbing six spots in the global ranking of arms exporters in a single year is no statistical fluke—it is proof that a strategic industrial decision, made at the right time, can transform a country into a leading geopolitical player.

A Still Significant Reliance on a Few Key Customers

Despite diversification into sixteen destination countries, a significant portion of South Korea’s export revenue remains concentrated in a limited number of major contracts, particularly those involving Poland. This relative concentration exposes the industry to risk should a major customer reduce its future orders—a vulnerability that South Korean industry leaders openly acknowledge.

Some analysts also point out that rapid growth could eventually strain production and quality control capacities—a challenge that the four major defense conglomerates will need to manage rigorously to preserve their emerging reputation as reliable suppliers.

International competition will not stand idly by

Faced with South Korea’s rise, other industrial powers—particularly in Europe—are unlikely to remain passive. Several European countries have already announced massive plans to reinvest in their own defense production capabilities, which could, in the medium term, reduce Europe’s dependence on Asian suppliers.

Far from being a problem for the West as a whole, this competitive dynamic is actually an encouraging sign: the need for rearmament has finally been recognized on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, with several reliable suppliers capable of meeting the demand.

The fact that Europe is finally investing again in its own defense industrial base is not bad news for South Korea—it is a sign that the lesson of strategic vulnerability has finally been learned wherever it needed to be.

U.S. pressure that has accelerated the process

We must honestly acknowledge that the pressure exerted by the Trump administration on European allies to increase their defense spending directly contributed to accelerating this wave of continental rearmament, creating massive demand for suppliers capable of delivering quickly, such as South Korea.

Even though this pressure was often expressed in a blunt and, for some allies, sometimes humiliating manner, its net effect on the overall Western deterrence posture is hard to dispute: rising defense budgets, massive orders placed, and a global industrial base—now including Seoul—mobilized to meet this demand.

Strengthened Collective Deterrence Despite Tensions

This dynamic illustrates an interesting paradox of the current era: diplomatic tensions within the Atlantic Alliance itself have not prevented a concrete and measurable strengthening of Western military capabilities, particularly thanks to the contribution of strategic partners such as South Korea, which is not, however, an official member of NATO.

This South Korean contribution to Western deterrence demonstrates that collective defense against Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea no longer relies solely on formal NATO member countries, but on a broader network of allied democracies sharing the same fundamental strategic interests.

Whether Trump was a blunt force rather than a patient diplomat matters less, in the end, than the concrete result: allies who are finally rearming in earnest, with the help of reliable partners like South Korea.

The Korean Lesson for Western Defense Industries

South Korea’s success is based in part on rapid production capacity, competitive delivery times, and prices that are often more attractive than those of some traditional Western competitors. This combination has appealed to European customers facing urgent rearmament needs in the face of the persistent Russian threat.

Several defense analysts believe that this Korean industrial model—mass production, platform standardization, and contractual flexibility—could inspire similar reforms in European defense industries, which have historically been more fragmented among multiple national manufacturers with limited production capacities.

A National Defense Base That Explains This Resilience

It should not be forgotten that this industrial success is rooted in decades of continuous investment in South Korea’s national defense, driven by the constant threat posed by North Korea at its border. This existential necessity has sustained a robust industrial base, even as many Western countries scaled back their defense spending after the end of the Cold War.

This lesson is worth remembering: a strong defense industry is not built in a few months of geopolitical panic, but over decades of constant vigilance in the face of a threat taken seriously—a discipline that South Korea has maintained without fail.

South Korea did not need the invasion of Ukraine to understand the importance of a robust defense industry—it was already living, every day, with the North Korean threat on its doorstep, a lesson in realism that Europe has taken decades to relearn.

New Contracts in the Works

Several negotiations are underway for major new contracts, notably regarding the export of KF-21 fighter jets to various countries, including Indonesia, which plans to finalize the purchase of sixteen aircraft this year, according to CHOSUNBIZ. These future contracts would further consolidate South Korea’s presence in the global military aviation market, a particularly competitive and strategic segment.

The diversification of exported products—from tanks to fighter jets to naval systems—demonstrates an industry that does not rely on a single type of equipment, thereby reducing its vulnerability to fluctuations in demand within a particular segment of the arms market.

A trajectory for Western allies to watch closely

For Western governments, South Korea’s continued rise in the global rankings of arms exporters warrants close attention, both as a reliable strategic partner and as a potential industrial model to study in order to accelerate their own defense production capabilities.

If this trajectory continues at its current pace, South Korea could reach its goal of $20 billion in exports well before the government’s 2030 deadline—an achievement that would firmly establish its status as a leading defense industrial power.

If Seoul reaches its $20 billion target ahead of schedule, it will not only be a commercial victory for South Korea—it will be a victory for the collective ability of the West and its allies to rearm in the face of an increasingly dangerous world.

A Welcome Counterweight to Revisionist Powers

In a world where Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are coordinating their strategic interests ever more closely, every strengthening of an allied democracy’s defense industrial capacity serves as a welcome strategic counterweight. South Korea’s rise to power fits precisely into this logic of collective resistance against authoritarian ambitions.

This industrial buildup in South Korea is not limited to commercial considerations: it sends a clear signal to authoritarian regimes that the democratic camp possesses sufficient, diversified, and resilient industrial resources to sustain a prolonged defense effort, regardless of how long current geopolitical tensions may last.

A De Facto Alliance Between Pacific and Atlantic Democracies

This growing cooperation between South Korea and European NATO countries illustrates a broader strategic convergence between Pacific and Atlantic democracies, united in the face of threats that, though geographically distinct, share a common origin: the rejection of the rules-based international order by several authoritarian powers.

This strategic convergence, concretely manifested through South Korean defense contracts in Europe, could well foreshadow a more integrated global security architecture among allied democracies, transcending the traditional regional boundaries of NATO and its Asian partnerships.

Seeing the democracies of the Pacific and the Atlantic converge industrially in the face of the same authoritarian regimes is not merely a commercial coincidence—it is the slow but real formation of a global alliance of freedom against authoritarianism.

The Issue of Skilled Labor

Faced with such rapid growth, several South Korean defense companies are struggling to recruit highly skilled workers, particularly engineers specializing in advanced weapons systems. This potential talent shortage could, if not addressed quickly, hinder the country’s ability to maintain its current pace of growth over the long term.

The South Korean government has announced additional investments in technical training and defense engineering education, recognizing that the sustainability of this industrial success depends directly on its ability to train the next generation of specialists.

Regional Geopolitical Tensions That Cannot Be Ignored

South Korea’s industrial rise is taking place against a regional backdrop where tensions with North Korea remain a daily reality, and where the strategic balance with China remains delicate. These regional factors will continue to influence the country’s military production priorities, potentially at the expense of certain export capabilities should local tensions intensify.

Despite these challenges, the current trajectory demonstrates the remarkable adaptability of South Korea’s defense industry, which is capable of simultaneously meeting its national defense needs and growing international demand—a balance that few nations manage to maintain as effectively.

That Seoul has managed to balance its own security in the face of Pyongyang while becoming Europe’s arms supplier is nothing short of a strategic feat—and this feat deserves to be celebrated loud and clear.

The Integration of Next-Generation Systems

Beyond traditional platforms such as tanks and artillery, South Korea’s defense industry is investing heavily in next-generation systems, including locally designed KF-21 fighter jets and advanced missile defense technologies. This technological upgrade enables South Korea to compete directly with established Western manufacturers in higher-value-added segments.

This ability to produce high-tech equipment—and not just conventional platforms—strengthens the long-term credibility of South Korea’s defense industry as a leading strategic partner for decades to come.

Sustained Investment in Research and Development

South Korea’s four major defense conglomerates are reinvesting a significant portion of their record profits in research and development, seeking to maintain their technological edge in the face of increasingly fierce international competition. This strategy of continuous investment distinguishes South Korea’s approach from that of certain competitors who prioritize short-term profits.

This long-term vision, combined with already substantial profits, positions South Korea’s defense industry favorably to continue innovating and maintaining its competitiveness in the global arms market in the years to come.

Reinvesting its record profits in innovation rather than solely in dividends is the hallmark of an industry that thinks in terms of decades rather than quarters—a lesson that some Western conglomerates might do well to consider.

Strengthening Ties with European Countries

Every major arms deal is generally accompanied by a broader strengthening of diplomatic and economic relations between South Korea and the purchasing country. Ties between Seoul and Warsaw, for example, have deepened considerably since the signing of the historic arms deal, now extending to areas of cooperation that go far beyond the military sector alone.

This dynamic illustrates how defense partnerships can serve as a catalyst for broader bilateral relations, building lasting bridges between nations that are geographically distant but strategically aligned in the face of the same global threats.

Growing International Recognition

This industrial rise also gives South Korea greater diplomatic clout on the international stage, strengthening its ability to exert influence in multilateral forums dedicated to collective security. This enhanced status could, over time, enable Seoul to play an even more active role in strategic coordination among allied democracies in the Pacific and Atlantic regions.

This growing recognition, however, comes with increased responsibilities, notably that of maintaining high standards of transparency and compliance in its arms export contracts—a challenge the country must continue to address rigorously.

The diplomatic clout that comes with this industrial success is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege—South Korea will now have to assume the role of a committed middle power on the international stage.

A Partnership Worth Celebrating

Dear South Korean Government, this letter is intended first and foremost as a sincere expression of gratitude. In a world where Western deterrence has long suffered from a lack of industrial capacity, your country has filled a critical part of that gap at precisely the moment when Europe and its allies needed it most, in the face of an aggressive Russia and an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment.

Your rise to become the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter is not merely a commercial success for South Korea: it is a tangible strengthening of the collective capacity of allied democracies to defend the rules-based international order in the face of the revisionist ambitions of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

Hope for the Future of Broader Western Cooperation

May this collaboration continue to deepen in the years ahead, as the West and its Pacific partners jointly confront an increasingly complex strategic environment. South Korea’s trajectory demonstrates that it is possible, in just a few years, to transform a national industrial capacity into a true pillar of collective international security.

Thank you, then, to those in Seoul—at the factories of Hanwha, Hyundai Rotem, KAI, and LIG Nex1—who work every day to manufacture the equipment that tangibly strengthens the West’s ability to deter those who would seek to undermine international peace and stability.

In a world that is more dangerous than it has been in decades, every reliable ally counts twice as much—and South Korea has just proven, with figures to back it up, that it is one.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist