South Korea signs $6.5B arms export deal with Poland
Agreement includes purchase of 180 K2 tanks as Warsaw seeks to boost its defenses with Ukraine war on its doorstep
ISTANBUL
South Korea on Friday signed a major arms export deal with Poland worth around $6.5 billion, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.
The agreement includes exports of 180 K2 tanks as well as 81 other support vehicles, according to a statement from the ministry.
The deal marks the first major arms export agreement under South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back attended the signing ceremony between Hyundai Rotem and Poland's armament agency in Gliwice in southern Poland.
The contract is part of a broader push by Poland to bolster its defense capabilities. In 2022, Warsaw signed multiple agreements with South Korea for K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, and FA-50 light attack aircraft.
The latest agreement will reportedly provide Poland with 117 K2 tanks produced by Hyundai Rotem and 63 K2PL tanks to be built locally by state-owned defense firm PGZ.
The sides had signed a contract in 2022 for the first batch of the 180 tanks as Warsaw's continued efforts to strengthen its military in response to the Russia-Ukraine war on its doorstep.
