"South Korea’s Growing Role as a Major Arms Exporter: Future Prospects in Latin America"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez and Hoshik Nam
War on the Rocks
Commentary
21 August, 2024
Originally published: https://warontherocks.com/2024/08/south-koreas-growing-role-as-a-major-arms-exporter-future-prospects-in-latin-america/
The last few years have seen a surge in defense spending, particularly in regard to conventional defense technologies. “We’ve had a huge increase in demand from our European allies and partners over the last few years since the … invasion by the Russians in Ukraine,” Defense Security Cooperation Agency director James Hursch observed recently. U.S. industries are not the only suppliers benefiting from this surge in demand. South Korea has also dramatically expanded its global role as a defense technology supplier. In 2023, South Korea became one of the top 10 arms exporters in the world, exporting $14 billion worth of defense technology to 12 countries.
