00:00Currently, South Korea ranks 4th in global defense market share.
00:02Just a few years ago, the country was only around the top 10,
00:05but suddenly it has experienced explosive growth.
00:07Today, let's take a closer look at this topic.
00:09Let's take a look right away.
00:10In 2025, Korea set a goal of becoming the world's 4th largest defense exporter by 2030.
00:15In fact, at that time, there were quite a few people who mocked the idea,
00:18questioning how Korea could possibly become the world's 4th largest defense exporter.
00:21It's understandable because until 2024,
00:24Korea's global market share was only 2.2%, ranking 9th in the world.
00:27So many people thought it would be very difficult.
00:29But this time, the 2025 defense market share figures have been released.
00:32Contrary to the government's expectation that it would take about 5 years,
00:35Korea has immediately risen to become the 4th largest defense exporter.
00:37According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute survey,
00:40Korea has recorded the largest defense exports in its history,
00:43with a global market share of 6.0%.
00:45This means an 83% growth in just one year.
00:48The United States is 1st with 42%, France is 2nd with 10%,
00:52Israel is 3rd with 7.8%, and Korea ranked 4th.
00:55But thus, Korea's record this time was even higher than Russia's 5.8%
00:58and China's 2.6%.
01:00This means Korea has surpassed traditional defense powerhouses.
01:03The biggest factor for this growth is considered to be the second contract
01:06for 180 K2 tanks with Poland in 2025,
01:09and the additional export contract for 12 FA-50 light attack aircraft to the Philippines.
01:14Apparently, the whole world is facing wars and conflicts.
01:17Honestly, I've never seen a time with so many wars and disputes breaking out.
01:20Because of this, countries around the world are rushing to rearm themselves.
01:23Here, Korea is considered to have greatly benefited from this situation.
01:26The reason for the growth of Korea's defense industry is not just technological advancement,
01:29but a structure built for survival.
01:31Korea is still a country that is in military confrontation with North Korea.
01:34It's not a country where the war has ended, but a country where the war is just paused.
01:38In this situation, it's impossible to reduce or give up the defense industry.
01:42In fact, after the Cold War ended, many countries reduced their defense budgets
01:45and downsized their defense industries.
01:47But Korea, on the contrary, had to keep maintaining it and even had to further develop it.
01:51This difference is the key that led to the current results.
01:53The characteristic that naturally developed in this process is mass production capability.
01:57Since the Korean military always has to keep the possibility of real war in mind,
02:00instead of focusing on producing a small number of high-end weapons,
02:02they had no choice but to choose a structure that maintains a certain level of performance
02:05while securing weapons in large quantities.
02:07What's important here is not just producing a lot,
02:09but maintaining a certain level of performance while keeping costs low.
02:12If this balance is lost, it becomes meaningless in actual combat.
02:16That's why Korean weapons, even if they're not the highest performing,
02:18develop into forms that are very powerful,
02:19and at the same time, highly cost-effective.
02:21What's important on the battlefield isn't having the very best unit,
02:23but having several units that can be used right away.
02:26In actual combat situations, having several reliable pieces of equipment
02:28provides a greater tactical advantage than having a single, extremely expensive one.
02:32On top of that, Korea's unique environment plays a decisive role.
02:34Korea is a region with extreme seasonal changes.
02:36In the summer, the environment is hot and humid,
02:38and in the winter, severe cold continues.
02:40Even when making a single piece of equipment,
02:42it has to withstand all these conditions.
02:44It must maintain stable performance in both high and low temperatures.
02:47Weapons developed to meet these conditions naturally become more durable and reliable.
02:51Weapons made this way gain strong competitiveness overseas.
02:54That's because they can operate without problems in hot environments like the Middle East
02:57and maintain their performance even in the severe cold of Northern Europe.
03:01Because these weapons are not made for a specific environment but have passed all extreme conditions,
03:05they can be operated reliably in any region.
03:07This is the key factor in gaining trust in the global market.
03:09And another thing is, the production speed is extremely fast.
03:12I think it would be good to give an example of this.
03:14Recently, after the Middle East War broke out,
03:16Cheonggong played a major role which I'm sure many of you already know.
03:19But the problem is that since Cheonggong's interception rate is so high,
03:22the missiles were used up just as quickly.
03:24Because of this, the UAE requested that Cheonggong missiles be sent quickly.
03:27To be honest, for other countries, this would have taken several months or even years.
03:31But since Korea is a country with a very fast production speed,
03:34they delivered it in just two days.
03:36It's no joke how fast that is.
03:37Because of this, Korea has grown into a trusted defense supplier for other nations.
03:40With all these factors combined, Korea's defense industry occupies a unique position.
03:44The prices are low, the performance is sufficient,
03:46delivery is fast, and the products are even adaptable to different environments.
03:49This combination is proving to be very powerful in the current international situation,
03:53where the arms race is intensifying.
03:55There's a very important point we need to address here.
03:57If you think Korea's defense industry is booming simply because Korea is doing well,
04:00you're only seeing half the picture.
04:01Right now, the traditional defense powerhouses are all facing instability at the same time.
04:04The country that has seized this opportunity precisely is Korea.
04:07First, let's talk about the United States.
04:08Even though it's the world's number one defense industry powerhouse,
04:11its biggest problem right now is production speed.
04:13After providing massive amounts of weapons to Ukraine since the war in Ukraine began,
04:16their stockpiles have been depleted rapidly.
04:18But the problem is that the speed at which they're replenishing these stockpiles
04:20is much slower than expected.
04:21Production facilities have already been significantly reduced,
04:23and it's difficult to ramp them up again in a short period of time.
04:25Defense companies are also being cautious about large-scale expansion
04:27due to profitability and political issues.
04:29What this means is that for countries that urgently need weapons,
04:31even if they order American-made weapons,
04:33they don't know when they'll actually receive them.
04:34The situation is even more serious in Europe.
04:36Since the end of the Cold War,
04:37they've significantly downsized their defense industry,
04:39so their production base itself has become weak.
04:40The number of factories has decreased,
04:42and there's also a shortage of skilled workers.
04:44Even though they're now calling for rearmament,
04:45when it comes to actually producing weapons,
04:47their production capacity can't keep up.
04:49Delivery times are getting longer,
04:50and prices are rising rapidly.
04:51On top of that,
04:52internal European politics are also tangled up,
04:54making it difficult to coordinate interests between countries.
04:56In the case of Russia,
04:57the situation is even more bleak.
04:58Since they're directly involved in the war,
05:00they have almost no capacity to export weapons.
05:02The weapons that used to be exported
05:03are now being prioritized for their own front lines,
05:05and with international sanctions on top of that,
05:07their influence in the global market
05:09has significantly decreased.
05:10In the past,
05:11they dominated the market with low prices,
05:12but now they're practically out of the competition.
05:14So, the situation is that the US is slow,
05:16Europe can't produce,
05:17and Russia can't sell.
05:18This is where Korea comes in.
05:19Korea can supply weapons that are produced quickly,
05:21reasonably priced,
05:22and have proven performance.
05:24It's become almost the only option.
05:25So, the current situation isn't that Korea rose up on its own,
05:28but rather that it precisely filled the gap
05:29left by the established powers,
05:30who all stepped back at the same time.
05:32And as this timing lined up perfectly,
05:34Korea managed to overturn a goal
05:35that was supposed to take several years in just one year.
05:37Of course,
05:38since Korea ended up selling a lot of weapons
05:39to other countries unintentionally,
05:40the possibility of being dragged
05:42into the middle of international conflicts
05:43has also increased that much.
05:45The diplomat,
05:45which is also a diplomatic media outlet,
05:47mentioned Cheonggong,
05:47which was used in actual combat
05:48during the Middle East War,
05:49and evaluated that the rapidly growing
05:50Korean defense industry
05:51has overlooked the political ripple effects
05:53that come with the real-world deployment of weapons.
05:55And it was evaluated that Korea,
05:56whether intentionally or not,
05:57has accumulated interest
05:58in the outcomes of these conflicts.
05:59To put it simply,
06:00by exporting weapons,
06:01Korea has now gained political
06:02and diplomatic responsibilities
06:03that operate separately
06:04from the arms deals themselves.
06:05So,
06:05this is an area that needs to be addressed
06:07through Korea's diplomatic capabilities.
06:08Of course,
06:08there are still areas that need further growth.
06:10Among Korea's major export destinations,
06:11Poland accounts for 58%.
06:12And the Philippines accounts for 18%
06:14and the UAE for 9.5%.
06:16The point is,
06:17there's a heavy concentration in Poland.
06:19Therefore,
06:20if we want to maintain a top-four position
06:21in the defense market,
06:22not just this one time,
06:22we need to export weapons
06:23to a wider variety of countries.
06:24That is,
06:25if this is considered good news.
06:26During the Middle East War,
06:27Chonggung played an incredible role.
06:29So many countries in the Middle East
06:30started to take an interest
06:31in Korean weapons.
06:32And there are many evaluations
06:33that say these weapons
06:34have great cost-effectiveness,
06:35and since we're also known
06:36for meeting delivery deadlines,
06:37we're getting even better reviews.
06:39Another important factor here
06:40is the European market.
06:41Currently,
06:42European countries are rushing to rearm
06:43due to growing security concerns.
06:45But at the same time,
06:46they are strongly applying the principle
06:47of protecting their own domestic industries.
06:50Simply put,
06:50even if they buy weapons,
06:51there's a clear trend
06:52of wanting to make them domestically
06:53or at least choose equipment
06:54produced within Europe first.
06:56In this structure,
06:56performance or price alone
06:57isn't enough to win.
06:58Because politics,
06:59industry,
06:59and employment
07:00are all intertwined,
07:01the competition becomes
07:02much more complicated.
07:03For this reason,
07:04there have already been cases
07:04where Korean weapons
07:05lost out in these competitions.
07:07The export of the K2 tanks
07:08to Sweden fell through,
07:08and the K9 self-propelled howitzer
07:10also lost out
07:10in the bidding war in the UK.
07:11It wasn't so much
07:12that they lost in terms
07:12of performance or price,
07:13but rather because of differences
07:14in local production,
07:15industrial contribution,
07:16and political interests.
07:17For European countries,
07:18when purchasing weapons,
07:19protecting their own jobs
07:20and industrial ecosystem
07:21has become a more important
07:22criterion for decision-making.
07:23That's why the defense industry market
07:24is shifting from competition
07:25over products
07:26to competition
07:26over comprehensive packages.
07:27It's no longer
07:28just about selling weapons.
07:29They are being asked
07:30for comprehensive proposals
07:31that include establishing
07:32local production plants,
07:33transferring technology,
07:34and building maintenance systems.
07:35Korean defense companies
07:36are also quickly adapting
07:37to this trend.
07:38In fact, in Poland,
07:39a local production system
07:40has been established,
07:41and there are ongoing efforts
07:42to expand similar cooperation models
07:43with other countries.
07:44This change is both a crisis
07:45and an opportunity.
07:46Although the barriers to entry
07:47have become higher,
07:48once a company secures
07:49a place in the market,
07:50there is a greater chance
07:51of landing long-term contracts
07:52and additional orders.
07:53While there are some cases
07:53of failure right now,
07:54as soon as the strategy aligns,
07:55there is still a strong possibility
07:56of landing major contracts again.
07:58Currently,
07:58Korea's defense industry
07:59is experiencing its golden age.
08:01I hope this situation
08:02continues just as it is.
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