South Korea’s Weapon Exports Continuing to Increase
World’s 9th-largest Weapon Exporter
The Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement announced on Dec. 20 that South Korea was the ninth-largest weapon exporter in the world from 2016 to 2020, when the top six were the United States, Russia, France, Germany, China and the United Kingdom.
“From 2016 to 2020, exports to the United Kingdom accounted for 14 percent of South Korea’s weapon exports and those to the Philippines and Thailand made up 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively,” it said, adding, “Those to Asia and Oceania, Europe, and the Middle East accounted for 55 percent, 23 percent and 14 percent, respectively.”
In that period, South Korea’s weapon exports increased 210 percent as compared with the period of 2011 to 2015. From 2016 to 2020, South Korea’s weapon exports accounted for 2.7 percent of the global total.
South Korea was the seventh-largest weapon importer in the world in the period of 2016 to 2020, when the top six were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia, China and Algeria. The institute’s announcement is based on data of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Source: Business Korea
