South Korea to become 4th-largest global defence power, President Lee says

SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday the country will devote a "larger-than-expected budget" in defence and aerospace research until 2030 as it seeks to build the world's fourth-largest defence industry.

AI Brief

At ADEX 2025, South Korea declared its goal to become a global defense leader by investing in independent tech development.
Arms exports surged post-Ukraine war, with deals on howitzers, missiles, and warships fueling South Koreas global presence.
South Korea pledges to share defense know-how and is actively engaging international partners to expand cooperation.

Lee was speaking at South Korea's largest-ever arms fair, the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025, where firms showed off new unmanned and artificial intelligence-enhanced weapons from howitzers to suicide drones in pursuit of more global defence sales.

South Korea ranked 10th in arms sales as of 2023, according to data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's (SIPRI) top 100 arms companies database.

"Being one of the top four powerhouses in the defence industry is by no means an impossible dream," Lee said.

"We will establish technological sovereignty by focusing investment on the development of technologies, parts, and materials that must be secured independently, such as special semiconductors in the defence sector."

To its overseas defence partners, South Korea pledges to share not only its weapons systems but also "the technology and experience of building an industrial foundation," Lee added.

Arms have become one of South Korea's fastest-growing exports, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inking multibillion-dollar deals selling everything from howitzers and ammunition to missiles and warships around the world.

Government and military officials from countries and organisations such as Romania, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, NATO, the U.S., Canada and Australia are visiting on the occasion of the arms fair, South Korea's defence ministry said in a briefing on Monday.

South Korea's Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik is visiting Europe this week as a special envoy to bolster defence industry cooperation, but the presidential office has declined to give the list of countries. However, on Monday it said Kang is not visiting Ukraine.