South Korea As A Rising Defence Exporter Challenges And Opportunities
IISS | 2026-02-22 | defense
Topics: Indo-Pacific
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English Summary
The paper argues that South Korea is becoming a major defence exporter, especially as European states accelerate rearmament and seek reliable suppliers beyond traditional sources. It attributes Seoul’s rise to a combination of scalable industrial capacity, relatively fast delivery timelines, competitive pricing, and growing political-strategic alignment with European security priorities. The analysis also highlights constraints, including production bottlenecks, technology-transfer sensitivities, sustainment demands, and the need to balance exports with South Korea’s own military readiness and regional risks. Strategically, it suggests Europe–South Korea cooperation should move from one-off procurement to longer-term partnerships in co-production, interoperability, and supply-chain resilience.
中文摘要
該論文主張，南韓正成為主要國防出口國，尤其在歐洲國家加速重整軍備、並尋求傳統來源之外的可靠供應商之際更為明顯。文中將首爾崛起歸因於可擴張的工業產能、相對快速的交付時程、具競爭力的價格，以及與歐洲安全優先事項日益增強的政治與戰略一致性。分析亦指出若干限制，包括生產瓶頸、技術移轉敏感性、後勤維保需求，以及必須在出口與南韓自身軍備妥善度及區域風險之間取得平衡。就戰略層面而言，文章建議歐洲與南韓的合作應由一次性採購，轉向在共同生產、互通性與供應鏈韌性方面的長期夥伴關係。
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