Is South Korea Ready to be a Global Pivotal Arms Exporter?

South Korea has established itself as a formidable player in the international arms market. In 2022, its arms sales topped $17 billion, more than doubling the record-setting $7.25 billion figure set in the previous year. The recent flurry of arms sales was the culmination of the South Korean government’s 20-year-long effort to build an export-competitive defense industry.

Under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, South Korea has set the ambitious goal to become the world’s fourth largest weapons exporter by 2027. Putting aside the export competitiveness and technical competence needed to achieve such a feat, whether South Korea is prepared for the challenges of being a global arms exporter remains an open question.

The war in Ukraine has exposed South Korea to geopolitical ramifications previously not encountered as its weapons head to NATO countries and, albeit indirectly, to Ukraine. The Yoon administration has also increasingly employed arms sales as a central tool of its values-based foreign policy agenda. This raises questions about the compatibility of exporting weapons, particularly to countries with human rights and other governance concerns, and South Korea’s commitment to liberal democratic values.

To meet the demand of being a “global pivotal state” with fresh global demand for its weapons, South Korea will need to develop a distinct set of diplomatic and political capacities significantly different from those meticulously honed in the past two decades to jumpstart the arms export business.

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