K-Defense Monitor - Issue No. 1
Strategic Insights into South Korea's Defense Industry
Industry News
South Korea is ramping up efforts to leverage Europe’s EUR 800 billion (USD 866 billion) rearmament plans.
Navy Secretary John Phelan plans to visit South Korean naval shipyards as early as next week to discuss maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) opportunities.
Nearthlab, a local AI start-up, joins Red Cat Holdings initiative as potential stepping stone for US market entry.
Iraq may be considering additional procurement of KUH-1 Surion helicopters.
Nearthlab, a local start-up specializing in autonomous flight systems, has joined the Red Cat Futures Initiative. According to media reports, Nearthlab is reportedly looking to enter the US market via collaborations with other consortium member companies.
DAPA and several South Korean companies participated in IQDEX 2025, a defense industry trade show in Baghdad, Iraq. Among others, DAPA met with Iraqi officials to address the country’s alleged interest in South Korean fighter jets and anti-air systems, as well as additional procurement of Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) KUH-1 Surion multi-role helicopter, two units of which Iraq had agreed to purchase in 2024. Companies participating in IQDEX 2025 included some of South Korea’s defense majors, such as KAI, LIG Nex1, and Hyundai Rotem.
Korean Air was named the preferred bidder for a KRW 1 trillion (USD 700 million) contract to upgrade 36 Lockheed Martin Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters for the South Korean military. Korean Air will be working with LIG Nex1 and Collins Aerospace. While unbeknownst to many, Korean Air has an aerospace business unit that at one point was the country’s unrivaled aerospace leader, as evidenced between 1991 and 1999, when the company manufactured over 130 Blackhawk helicopters
DAPA will begin a cyber security audit of over 100 local defense contractors, which aims to enhance preventive measures against industrial espionage. The audit is expected to conclude by the end of 2025. On a related note, DAPA has also been looking into initiatives preventing illegal transfers of exported South Korean defense products.
The hiring of foreign executives by local defense contractors is expected to face increased scrutiny. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is considering implementing relevant measures as part of a wider initiative to fortify information security and government policies associated with the defense industry.
US-ROK Shipbuilding Watch
John Phelan, Secretary of the Navy, plans to visit South Korea as early as next week to meet with South Korean naval shipbuilders, most likely HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Hanwha Ocean. South Korean media has reported that the purpose of his visit will be to discuss MRO opportunities. Both shipyards have Master Ship Repair Agreements (MSRA) with the US Navy. Rumors suggest the US Navy may have at least six ships begin MRO in South Korea by the end of 2025.
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A delegation of HHI executives visited Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard in Mississippi as a follow-up to a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this month. According to HII, “the visit focused on identifying near-term opportunities and exploring the implementation of new processes that could support the acceleration of ship production.”
Deep Dive
S. Korea Ramps Up Defense Exports Push to Europe
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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