News Story: With Samsung Sale, Hanwha Is S. Korea's New 'Defense Giant'

By JUNG SUNG-KI

SEOUL — The landscape of South Korea’s defense industry has drastically changed, as Samsung sells off all of its defense arms.

Samsung announced Nov. 26 that it will sell Samsung Techwin to Hanwha, the 10th largest conglomerate in Korea, as part of efforts to restructure the electronics-based business group.

Under the deal worth 2 trillion won (US $1.8 billion), which also affects the sale of Samsung’s petro-chemical companies, the electronics giant agreed to sell a 32.4 percent stake in Samsung Techwin, maker of the K9 self-propelled howitzer and aircraft engines, for $765 million to Hanwha.

Samsung Techwin owns a 50 percent stake in Samsung Thales, an electronics weapon maker jointly funded by the French Thales Group. That means Hanwha also gains managing rights over Samsung Thales.

Read the full story at DefenseNews