A launch ceremony for South Korea’s first 3,600-ton-class naval submarine takes place at a Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Geoje, about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 22, 2025. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s defense ministry on Thursday vowed to keep up its arms industry cooperation with Poland after a domestic defense firm failed to win a contract to supply next-generation submarines to the European country.
On Wednesday, Poland said it has chosen Swedish defense firm Saab as the winner of the Orka project to supply three submarines. South Korean defense firm Hanwha Ocean Co. was among the companies that had vied to win the multibillion-dollar deal.
“The government, relevant agencies and companies have striven (to win the project) but unfortunately was not selected,” ministry spokesperson Lee Kyung-ho told a regular press briefing.
“But since large-scale arms industry cooperation is under way with Poland, we will continue to maintain and strengthen such cooperation,” Lee said.
Poland has emerged as a key destination for Seoul’s defense exports in recent years as the European nation has signed a series of deals to acquire K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 light attack aircraft.
Earlier this year, Poland signed a deal worth about US$6.5 billion to purchase the second batch of K2 tanks from Hyundai Rotem Co., marking the country’s largest-ever arms export contract.
When asked about possible factors that may have affected the failure to win the deal, Kim Joo-chul, spokesperson for the state arms procurement agency, mentioned various cooperative ties between European nations, without providing further details.
Kim’s remarks appeared to refer to the European Union’s “Buy European” policy, an initiative that prioritizes European companies for public procurement projects to boost the regional industry.
South Korea has been seeking to boost arms exports in a bid to become one of the world’s fourth-largest defense exporters.
As part of such a drive, Hanwha Ocean has been shortlisted as one of the two preferred bidders for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, under which Ottawa plans to acquire up to 12 submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy to upgrade its submarine fleet.
(Yonhap)
