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| South Korean KIA T-50 Flight Trainer Aircraft |
By: Jill Aitoro
The South Korea defense industry wants to expand its collaboration with the United States to focus less on buying, more on co-development.
Kim Young Hoo, executive vice chairman of Korea Defense Industry Association (KDIA), called for a more "mutually beneficial" relationship in an interview with Defense News, even as he called the existing partnership with the US government and industrial base “terrific.”
The shift is less the result of dissatisfaction in US-South Korea relations and more a reflection of the evolution happening among South Korea companies in defense capabilities.
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| KIA/Lockheed Martin T-50A Trainer Aircraft for the USAF |
"As you know, just 40 years ago, Korea had nothing [in defense manufacturing]. But thanks to the help of the US we have made much progress,” said Hoo, a retired lieutenant general, speaking through an interpreter. “Circumstances have been changing. Korea has grown a lot, developed technology. We now need a new cooperation model.”
"In the past, it’s been ‘we get the technology from the US, then we assemble,’” he continued. “That model worked well. But we have new needs to develop together.”
Read the full story at DefenseNews