Total amount is more than double of last year & ammunition to Ukraine… Danger and contradiction of South Korea’s “arms export powerhouse” aiming for 4th place in the world.

A total of $17 billion (about 2.32 trillion yen)-this is the value of South Korean arms exports as of November of this year.

This is the value of South Korea’s arms exports as of November of this year. This is already more than double last year’s record high of $7 billion (approx. 950 billion yen). According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, South Korea’s share of the world’s arms exports rose from 31st in 2000 to 8th last year. This shows its presence in the world.

Until the 1960s, U.S. forces in South Korea were deployed on a large scale due to the Korean War, but President Richard Nixon, who took office in January 1969, scaled back these forces. South Korea began fostering its own military industry in the 1970s, which grew dramatically in the 2010s with active government support. Weapons production is one of the few areas where exports are growing while the South Korean economy is sluggish.

In November of this year, President Yun Suk-yeol held a conference on promoting arms exports. The military industry is the engine that drives growth, and we need to be technologically competitive,” he declared. He is aiming to become the world’s fourth largest arms exporter after the U.S., Russia, and France.

While advocating “peace,” ……

South Korea’s influence extends to actual conflicts as well. It is believed to be sending ammunition indirectly to Ukraine.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Ukraine uses about 7,000 rounds of ammunition a day. Most of this is provided by the U.S. military. Immediately after the Russian invasion, the U.S. also asked South Korea for weapons assistance. However, the South Korean government has established a policy of ‘not exporting lethal weapons to Ukraine. It is said that the U.S. is in the process of intervening, and South Korea is said to be making up for the shortage of ammunition for the U.S. military.

What should we make of South Korea’s forward-looking stance? Shinichi Hen, editor-in-chief of “Korea Report,” points out that the expansion of South Korea’s arms exports is “fraught with danger.

South Korea’s military budget is growing year by year. Weapons, along with nuclear power plants, are the two pillars that support South Korea’s export industry. Poland has purchased self-propelled artillery and tanks under contracts worth hundreds of billions of yen. However, successive South Korean administrations have advocated the ‘realization of peace on the Korean Peninsula. While they talk about ‘peace,’ the current situation is that they are spreading weapons around the world that will expand the flames of war.

When North Korea conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, South Korea voted in favor of a UN Security Council resolution that prohibited the country from exporting arms to third countries in the Middle East and Africa. We are opposed to arms exports to the partner that should be responsible for peace on the Korean Peninsula, but we are pushing ahead with our own arms exports,” he said. I feel a strong contradiction.

South Korea, far away from the war zone in Ukraine, is likely to increase its arms sales to NATO countries.