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The Future of the South Korean Defense Industry (2019-2024): Projected to Spend a Total of $82.6 Billion on the Acquisition of Military Hardware Between 2020 & 2024 - ResearchAndMarkets.com


The "Future of the South Korean Defense Industry - Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides readers with detailed analysis of both historic and forecast defense industry values, factors influencing demand, the challenges faced by industry participants, analysis of industry leading companies, and key news.

Key Highlights

South Korea, or officially called the Republic of Korea, is among the leading economies within Asia. While the relationship between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) or North Korea has traditionally been plagued by mutual distrust and a hostile defense posture, since 2017, the two countries have adopted several Confidence Building Measures (CBM) to improve relations and deescalate. However, despite their efforts, the sustainability of long-term peace in the Korean peninsula is contingent on North Korea relinquishing their nuclear weapons and only a total disarmament of the North Korean nuclear arsenal can ensure peaceful reunification or co-existence in the long-term.

Against this backdrop, it is pertinent for South Korea to continuously invest in military modernization programs and either modernize or phase out relatively aging military equipment with modern platforms capable of securing South Korean strategic interests over the next decade. In July 2018, the South Korean MND enacted a Defense Reform 2.0 initiative, which explicitly calls for cutting down the overall personnel strength of the South Korean armed forces from the current 618,000 to 522,000 troops by 2022, as well as cutting back on the top echelons of the ground forces by reducing the number of generals from 436 to just 360 by 2022. The New Defense Reform Plan also intends to make effective use of revolutionary developments in battlefield technologies and military science, with specific emphasis on artificial intelligence. As such, the South Korean DR 2.0 initiative is expected to drive a surge in defense investments over 2020-2024.

South Korea's defense expenditure, in accordance with its GDP, remained relatively constant throughout the historic period, standing at an average of 2.4% during 2015-2019. However, South Korea's defense expenditure as a percentage of its GDP is anticipated to increase to an average of 2.6% over the forecast period. The South Korean defense budget, which stands at about US$42.4 billion in 2019, is anticipated to grow to US$57.1 billion in 2024, reflecting a CAGR of 5.94% over the analysis period. Although revenue expenditure is expected to continue dominating South Korean defense expenditure, South Korea is set to increase its defense capital expenditure from an average of 30.6% over the historic period to an average of 32.4% over the forecast period.

During 2013-2017, South Korea was ranked 12th on the list of the highest arms exporting countries compared to 13th during 2012-2016. The country ranked 13th in terms of the top arms importing countries during 2013-2017, which is the same position held by the country during 2012-2016. However, during the period 2014-2018, South Korea imported the majority of its defense goods from the US, accounting for 50.6% of the market. The military alliance between the US and South Korea fuels its demand for US made and NATO compliant military equipment.

In particular, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the following:

Reasons to Buy

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g59a11



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