S. Korea Ramps Up Defense Exports Push to Europe

As the latest meetings between senior DAPA and European officials show, South Korean defense industry stakeholders are proactively lobbying Brussels and its member states

Hanwha Aerospace’s Chunmoo MLRS (Source: Hanwha Aerospace)

Seok Jong-Gun, Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), continued his European defense exports push with a visit to Brussels this week, where he reportedly met with Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defense and Space, and Radmila Shekerinska, NATO Deputy Secretary General. For Seok, this marked his third European trip so far in 2025, following visits to Norway in January and Sweden earlier in April.

Why the frequent visits?

Since Russia began its latest aggression against Ukraine in 2022, the talk of European rearmament has only been growing, culminating in the European Commission ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 which was announced in March 2025. In this plan, the European Commission (EC) mentioned a pan-regional “massive ramp-up in defense spending” totaling EUR 800 billion (USD 866 billion). Accompanying this announcement were sound bytes from EU officials that its member states need to lessen their dependence on US defense products while buying more from European contractors.

But, what does this mean for defense contractors of other nationalities?

While it appears the EU has yet to clarify whether there could be opportunities for defense contractors of other nationalities, South Korean stakeholders have nevertheless been proactively attempting to turn this European decision into a South Korean business opportunity.

What is South Korea offering?

Before talking about specific defense products, it’s important to note that successful defense export deals are often accompanied by various other initiatives that can include those related to diplomacy, military-to-military exchanges, industrial collaboration, local manufacturing, and offsets (i.e. technology transfer).

According to South Korean media reports, Seok proposed the following:

• Collaborations on R&D initiatives for advanced defense technologies, a need for which Shekerinska reportedly agreed to during the meeting.

• Formation of a joint consultative body on defense industry collaboration. Seok even proposed holding a kick-off meeting later this year.

  
  

As for specific defense products, none were mentioned in the media reports. However, the following big-ticket items have so far been exported and/or offered to European customers, such as Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Romania: diesel-electric submarines, K-9 self-propelled howitzer, Chunmoo multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS), and the M-SAM 2 air-defense system.

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