South Korea’s rapid weapons exports expansion causes strains with U.S.

The Asahi Shimbun ^ | November 26, 2015 | YOSHIHIRO MAKINO

[sukhoi-30mki]

SEOUL--South Korea has increased its weapons exports more than 12-fold over the past decade, triggering friction with the United States because much of the technology involved originated there, sources say.

It was stopped from selling the T-50 advanced trainer aircraft to Uzbekistan this year, according to a source knowledgeable about South Korea-U.S. relations.

"The United States did not want the technology to go to a nation that once belonged to the Soviet Union," the source said.

The T-50 is among the more popular South Korean defense systems and is manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI). The company is seeking to sell the jets to the United States, as it is in the process of replacing about 1,000 trainer aircraft. The 1,000 jets would cost about 38 trillion won ($33 billion, or 4 trillion yen).

"Large amounts of technology from the United States have been used in the T-50,” said a military source. “Because experiments during the development stage have been passed, the plane can now be produced at cheaper prices.”

On Nov. 22, South Korea signed a provisional contract with the Indonesian government for joint development of a fighter jet.

Other sales pitches have been made to Thailand for the purchase of training aircraft and to Indonesia for a diesel-powered submarine.

The provisional contract with the Indonesian government involves KAI. Plans call for developing a fighter jet that is more advanced than the F-16, of which 4,600 have been sold throughout the world, and cheaper than the F-35, a stealth fighter jet.

A KAI official said, "We are seeking to sell 1,000 fighter jets to the South Korean and Indonesian militaries for a profit of 180 trillion won."

But when South Korea asked the United States for the transfer of 25 types of technology that would be needed in developing the fighter jet, Washington declined to provide four of them.

A military source said, "The objective of weapons exports by South Korea is purely to pursue economic benefits. However, there is a slight sense of being a 'merchant of death,' and it also faces the challenges of not being able to go against U.S. strategy."

According to the South Korean government, weapons exports in 2013 totaled about $3.4 billion, which represents a drastic increase of 12.8 times over 10 years ago.

Other than the T-50, South Korea’s lucrative defense systems include the K-9 self-propelled howitzer, which has a firing range of 40 kilometers, similar to weapons made in the United States and Japan

The exports have been sent to about 80 nations, including the United States, as well as those in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Efforts to expand its international customer base began during the administration of President Lee Myung-bak. His successor, President Park Geun-hye, has continued that course and during talks with leaders of Southeast Asian nations has often asked for cooperation among the defense sectors.

[Colorado Doug]

South Korea can probably just buy any of our latest, top secret military tech from China.