Industry
President Duda: We Hope We Will Be Manufacturing Korean Equipment in Poland
President Andrzej Duda, after meeting Yoo Suk Yeol, his South Korean counterpart, said that not only does he hope that Poland will be procuring modern military equipment in Korea, but also that the Polish industry would engage in manufacturing equipment based on South Korean know-how, domestically.
The talks between the Presidents of Poland and South Korea are a part of the scheduled visit made by the Korean leader in Poland, between 12th and 14th July, following the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Defence cooperation of both nations would be one of the key issues both heads of state would be discussing. The Korean group of delegates includes the Deputy Minister of Defence, Div. Gen. (ret.) Sung Il, who spoke to the head of the Polish Ministry of Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak, and numerous representatives of the defence industry, including the Hanwha Group Vice-President, Kim Dong-kwan.
We do hope very much that not only would Poland be procuring modern defence equipment for our soldiers in Korea, but above all, that this equipment will also be manufactured in Poland. We are very much driven to achieve that, and this is what we are asking for, during that visit made by the President.
Andrzej Duda, President of Poland
Minister Mariusz Błaszczak also took part in the plenary talks involving the Presidents. Declaration made by Andrzej Duda, regarding the manufacturing of the equipment developed in Korea in Poland is well-aligned with the actions taken, within the framework of the Polish-South Korean cooperation.
Warsaw decided to make a major defence procurement in Korea back in 2022 - this includes K2/K2PL main battle tanks (180 ordered within the framework of a performance agreement, and 1,000 in total covered by a framework agreement), K9A1/K9PL howitzers (212 ordered within the framework of a performance agreement, and 672 in total covered by a framework agreement), 48 FA-50/FA-50PL jets, and K239 Chunmoo MLRS (218 ordered within the framework of a performance agreement, and 290 in total covered by a framework agreement). All procurements come with training and logistics support packages. Howitzers, main battle tanks, and rocket launchers also come with major quantities of munitions.
In the case of three equipment types for the Army - the K2PL main battle tanks, K9PL howitzers, and K239 Chunmoo MLRS systems, a transfer of technologies is expected to happen during the second phase of implementation of the framework agreements, with manufacturing processes expected to be transferred to Poland as well. When it comes to Chunmoo, not only does the above apply to the launchers, but also the guided rockets, with a range of 80 kilometres. Poland has also expressed its interest in other defence-industrial cooperation projects involving South Korea, including the KF-21 next-generation MRCA.
Talks also covered other industrial domains, such as energy or transport industries.