Defence companies from Korea and Estonia met in Tallinn to explore joint development and local industrial cooperation, with the countries’ industry associations signing a memorandum of understanding, news outlet MBN reports.
The first Korea-Estonia Defence Industry Forum brought together companies, officials and industry groups in September. MBN reported that the Korean delegation included Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai WIA, Kia and other suppliers, while Estonian institutions and defence businesses joined the discussions. The Korea Defense Industry Association and the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association agreed to expand exchanges and seek joint projects.
Korea and Estonia look beyond equipment sales
The two sides discussed combining Korean manufacturing capacity with Estonian work in autonomous systems, software and cybersecurity. The Korean agency responsible for defence procurement outlined a path from equipment transactions to local cooperation, joint research and, eventually, joint production for other markets.
Estonian representatives also described a proposal under which major future defence contracts above €10M would involve local industrial cooperation worth about 30% of the contract value. This measure is still in the proposal stage. “Korea’s capacity to develop and produce major weapons systems and Estonia’s strengths in ICT, cybersecurity and unmanned systems are highly complementary,” said Lee Nam-woo, executive vice chairman of the Korea Defence Industry Association.
Existing links support further talks
The two countries have been cooperating more closely in defence and investment areas in recent years. Estonia has bought Korean K9 howitzers and ordered Chunmoo rocket systems. Estonian robotics company Milrem and Korea’s Hanwha Systems have also agreed to explore autonomous ground vehicles.
Read the full MBN report in Korean.
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