South Korea’s rise as a major arms supplier in the Middle East has been one of the region’s silent strategic developments. For the past few years, Seoul has secured multibillion-dollar deals with Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and, most recently, Iraq, transforming South Korea’s defense industry into a central pillar of its global diplomacy.

Currently, Cairo is assembling South Korea’s K9 howitzers under a local production partnership, while the UAE has signed a $3.5 billion deal to introduce the Cheongung-II (KM-SAM) air-defense system. Baghdad and Riyadh soon followed with their acquisitions, making the KM-SAM one of the most rapidly spreading air-defense platforms in the Middle East.

For Seoul, this is an economic and geopolitical success. This enables the diversification of South Korea’s export market, strengthens its industrial base, and consolidates the image of a high-tech defense producer. However, such success accompanies new dilemmas – which have direct strategic implications for Israel. As South Korean military hardware proliferates in a region where multiple rivalry structures overlap, Seoul is faced with a growing risk........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)