The U.S. State Department announced on the 25th in a press release that it has approved the sale of precision-guided weapons (PGM) and related equipment worth a total of $258 million to South Korea on the 25th.
The US weapons to be imported by Korea include 3,953 'KMU-556' and 1,981 'KMU-557' and 'DSU-42/B' laser precision guidance devices for joint direct strike (JDAM, GBU-31) missiles. and related parts, and technical support for these weapons, the U.S. Department of State said on the same day.
The U.S. State Department notified Congress on the 1st that it had approved the sale of two anti-missile defense systems for ships to South Korea, and said it was worth $39 million.
The Trump administration approved more than 20 US$23 billion overseas arms sales at the end of his tenure in October last year, and the US Senate vetoed fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles among weapons against the UAE.
The Moon Jae-in government has become a super-fast armaments powerhouse with a 210% increase in arms exports compared to the previous five years and a 57% increase in arms imports over the previous five years (2020-2015).
In response to North Korea's total ban on arms trade due to the UN Security Council resolution, the South Korean government increased arms exports to Southeast Asian countries and rapidly emerged as the third largest arms importer of the United States.
Sweden's Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) announced on March 15 in its '2020 International Arms Trade Trend Report' that the import of 25 US fighters and five German submarines accounted for a large portion of its imports.
Under the 'peace' and 'new southern policy', the Moon administration concentrated its arms exports to Asia and Australia for five years, accounting for 55% of the total, followed by the UK at 14%, the Philippines at 12%, and Thailand at 11%, the report said.
Regarding South Korea’s arms exports, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that in 2019, it signed a contract to export three additional 1,400-ton submarines worth $1.02 billion to Indonesia, “to solidify its position as one of the world’s five largest submarine exporters,” and recently, $6.1 billion to India. The Voice of America (VOA) reported on March 15 that it is known to be pushing for exports of submarines and anti-aircraft weapons worth $2.6 billion.
According to the SIPRI report, Korea ranks first among the US arms importers (6.7%), followed by Saudi Arabia (24%) and Australia (9.4%) second. South Korea ranked ninth in the world after Israel, and said, "Korea's exports are the fastest growing among the 20 largest arms exporters."
According to the report, the global arms trade volume for the five years from 2016 to 2020 was down by 0.5% compared to the previous five years (2011-2015), but increased by 15% during the same period due to the Trump administration’s arms exports, etc., and the Moon Jae-in government’s arms exports It is said to be “the fastest growing” in size.