Poland prepares from possible Russian attack: Buying weapons from South Korea

Following the apparent successful lobby by President Yoon Suk-yeol during NATO's recent summit, a senior official in the South Korean presidential office met with the directors of the companies mentioned above to agree on the amount of weapons intended to export, as well as their price and delivery time.

The Polish government reportedly is already in talks with Hyundai Rotem Corporation to buy K-2-like and KAI tanks, as well as to buy FA50 aircraft.

They aim to sign a long-term contract with Hanwha Defense for the supply of self-defenced Obuss to K9.

More specifically, Huyndai Rotem is negotiating with Poland to offer 180 K2 tanks (worth 3 trillion KRV, or $2.3 billion) by 2024, and Poles can buy another 400 K2 tanks by 2030, worth $8 trillion KRW, or $6.1 billion. KAI is discussing the sale of 48 light offensive FA50 aircraft for 3.4 trillion KRW, or $2.6 billion. Poland also plans to buy 670 K9 self-moving weapons worth 4-5 trillion KRW, or $3-3.8 billion.

A Polish Defence Ministry spokesman refused to provide any details about the negotiations with Koreans, saying all information about the purchase will be published soon.

The ongoing negotiations are not only about procurement of military equipment to strengthen the Polish armed forces, but also about co-operation between our industries”, said a spokesman for the Polish Defence Ministry for Defence for Defence News.

Export to Poland would be South Korea's first arms sale to a European country and could mark the beginning of a new trend.

In addition to Poland, South Korean companies plan to apply for tenders in Norway, Australia, Malaysia and Colombia.