Export Promotion Strategies of Different BangsaCheong at Different Times

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 advanced trainer displayed at the Turkey defense exhibition. (Photo by Ministry of National Defense joint press corps)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Kang Eun-ho, Administrator of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), has come under criticism for creating ‘inconsistent policies’ due to building public achievements while mentioning defense export figures in official settings. Although DAPA had kept defense export figures under wraps, claiming that disclosing them does not benefit national interests, the head of the agency himself revealed them, resulting in the disappearance of any standards.

On the 20th, Kang Eun-ho, Administrator of DAPA, stated at the Sejong Defense Forum held at Somerset Palace in Seoul by the Sejong Institute, "Recently, defense exports have surged, securing export contracts worth over 7 billion dollars." He also disclosed the defense export items and target countries. Kang mentioned that negotiations are underway for the K-2 tank (Hyundai Rotem), participating in Norway’s next-generation tank project, and the Redback armored vehicle (Hanwha Defense), involved in Australia’s next-generation armored vehicle project.

However, until now, DAPA’s stance was that revealing defense export figures to the media does not benefit national interests.

In June 2014, DAPA heavily promoted that defense export figures reached 1.35866 billion dollars and that exports were expected to hit an all-time high compared to the previous year.

But the stance changed the following year. In January 2015, DAPA stated, "South Korea is the only country in the world that promotes its defense weapon export performance to the media," adding, "From now on, we will not release data on how much weapons have been exported." They also added, "The fact that advanced countries like the UK are closely watching South Korea’s defense export growth and that disclosing performance does not significantly benefit national interests was also a background factor."

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, DAPA’s stance changed once again. At the 2017 ADEX opening ceremony, President Moon Jae-in emphasized, "Our defense industry must leap beyond domestic production of advanced weapons to become an export industry." In January of the following year, DAPA resumed promoting that defense exports surpassed 3 billion dollars, a 25% increase compared to 2016 (2.55 billion dollars).

As the criteria for disclosing defense exports changed depending on the situation, even the defense industry finds it difficult to understand. A representative from a defense company said, "Even in recent Middle East exports, negotiations between companies are necessary, but there was an aspect of unconditional pressure to export," adding, "It seems that agency heads demand excessive export signals and promote export achievements to maintain their positions in the next administration."

As government ministries and higher institutions flaunted defense export achievements, subordinate agencies also joined in the publicity of performance. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) published the ‘2021 World Defense Market Yearbook,’ promoting that South Korea ranked ninth globally in weapon exports over the five years from 2016 to 2020.

At the time, Park Kyung-jin, head of the Defense Industry Research and Analysis Division at ADD, said at a regular briefing, "The export figures mentioned in the press release for the yearbook publication were cited from already disclosed news reports." This means the yearbook was published based on media reports rather than independent market research and analysis.

Regarding this, a defense industry official said, "ADD is promoting itself as if it oversees everything related to defense, including exports, development, and technical quality, raising questions about whether other institutions are unnecessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.