In 2022, arms exports from South Korea grew by 140% and reached a record high of $17.3 billion, the newspaper reports. The New York Times. According to her, the East Asian country has focused on filling the “global gap” in weapons, formed against the backdrop of large-scale military support for Ukraine.
At the same time, the South Korean authorities refused to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine and introduced strict export control rules that prevent South Korean defense exports from reaching Ukraine.
“South Korea’s wariness is partly due to its unwillingness to openly oppose Moscow, from which it hopes to cooperate in imposing new sanctions against an increasingly militant North Korea,” NYT analysts say.
Poland became the largest buyer of South Korean weapons in 2022 – the amount of Polish exports exceeded $12.4 billion. It includes tanks, rocket launchers, howitzers and fighter jets.
After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the South Korean authorities announced their position on the impossibility of supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine. Subsequently, the South Korean side repeatedly denied information about such deliveries.