K-Defense Boom
South Korea’s Arms Supremacy Gambit in East Asia
Copyright (c) 2026 Szári Norbert
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The study examines the rise of South Korea's defense industry through the K-Defense model, combining the developmental state logic with Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. It demonstrates how the Korean defense sector became a core driver of national innovation, emphasizing advances in autonomous systems, hypersonic weapons, and space capabilities. The research analyzes South Korean defense export successes and the strategic characteristics of the K-Defense model that enabled Seoul to emerge as a regional defense power.
Keywords:
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