S. Korea, Poland confirm additional export deal of K2 tanks

South Korea and Poland have completed talks over the export of additional K2 tanks to the European nation, the South’s state arms procurement agency said Wednesday, in what would be the first major arms contract signed under the new government when signed.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Hyundai Rotem Co., the manufacturer of the K2 tanks, have wrapped up their final talks and plan to hold an official signing ceremony attended by high-level officials from both countries, according to the Defense Arms Procurement Agency (DAPA).

While both sides did not specify the size of the agreement, the export deal is estimated to be more than US$6 billion and involve 180 K2 tanks. It would mark Seoul’s biggest single arms export contract to date.

The envisioned deal follows up on a series of deals Poland signed in 2022 with South Korean defense companies to acquire K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 light attack aircraft amid the country’s defense spending push after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hyundai Rotem had signed a contract worth about 4.5 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) later that year to supply the first batch of 180 K2s to Poland.

DAPA said the follow-up deal was pushed back as it involved negotiations over a wider range of business areas, such as the development of the K2PL, a Polish variant of the K2 tank, and local production.

Under the latest deal soon to be signed, Poland is expected to receive 117 units that will be produced by Hyundai Rotem, while the remaining 63 K2PL will be built locally by Warsaw’s state-owned PGZ.

DAPA assessed the establishment of a local manufacturing base in Poland heightens the feasibility of the additional K2 exports under a 2022 framework deal to export 1,000 K2 tanks to Poland.

The latest agreement also aligns with the ReArm Europe plan by offering upgrades tailored for partner nations and local manufacturing, raising the possibility of boosting arms exports to other European nations as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it said.

“The 2nd K2 export agreement was an occasion to confirm the solid arms industry cooperation between South Korea and Poland,” DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun said, pledging efforts to help shore up Europe’s security with the K2 tanks.