South Korea’s defense industry has long been one of the country’s most closed corporate ecosystems. Now, startups making experimental weapons for modern warfare are emerging, aided by an uptick in global conflict.
Domestic manufacturers can churn out NATO-standard weapons cheaper and quicker than many established Western rivals, which has allowed them to capitalize on growing global demand, including selling tanks to key Ukraine ally Poland and missile interceptors to the United Arab Emirates as the conflict in Iran spirals.
That’s helped the sector, largely dominated by behemoths like Hanwha Aerospace and Korea Aerospace Industries, grow into a $30 billion industry. The country has become the ninth-largest global arms exporter, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
