韓國力爭成為世界最大軍火商

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

S. Korea aims to become world's largest arms dealer

Reuters Business

Mon, May 29, 2023 at 1:52 a.m. PDT

STORY: South Korea is racing to become a major player in the world’s market for weapons, eager to tap into Europe’s hunger for arms.

At this factory on its southern coast, automated robots and workers are churning out artillery vehicles destined for Poland.

It's all run by Hanwha Aerospace, already the globe’s top maker of howitzers.

The company is a big part of the $14 billion-dollar arms deal that the South Korean government struck with Poland last year - as Western countries scrambled to arm Ukraine and tensions spike in areas from North Korea to the South China Sea.

Reuters spoke to more than a dozen executives and officials who say the deal will pave the way for Seoul’s ambitions to be a world-class weapons supplier.

Hanwha Aerospace director Oh Kyeahwan:

"The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and others were thinking of buying defense products only in Europe, but now it is more well known that you can buy at a low price and have it delivered quickly from South Korean companies too."

The deal was the country’s biggest-ever of its kind, and it promised hundreds of domestically designed rocket launchers, the howitzers, tanks and fighter jets.

All of which are designed to be compatible with U.S. and NATO systems.

Polish officials say South Korea’s offer to make weapons faster than almost anyone was a key consideration.

Constant tensions with North Korea mean the South’s arms production is always up and running and continuously being upgraded.

Oskar Pietrewicz, an analyst in Poland, contrasts that with Germany, another major arms supplier.

“Countries' interest in South Korea's offer may only grow considering the limited production capacity of Germany's defence industry, which is major arms supplier in the region. And for example, in 2018 Hungary has ordered 44 Leopard tanks from Germany and so far, none has been delivered."

South Korean officials told Reuters they have pitched Warsaw in producing their weapons within Poland for easier delivery.

However, Poland's Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a written request for comment.

Last month, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-Yeol told Reuters that his country may extend support to Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under wide-scale civilian attack.

Since then, his government has approved use of at least some South Korean weapons components in Ukraine.

Translation

故事：韓國正競相成為世界武器市場的主要參與者，渴望駁入歐洲對武器的渴求。

在這家位於南部海岸的工廠，自動化機器人和工人正在大量生產運往波蘭的火砲車輛。

這一切都是由已經是全球頂級榴彈砲製造商 Hanwha Aerospace 運營。

該公司是韓國政府去年與波蘭達成的價值 140 億美元的武器交易的重要組成部分 - 由於當時西方國家爭先恐後地向烏克蘭提供武器，以及從朝鮮到南中國海等地區的緊張局勢加劇。

路透社採訪了十幾位高管和官員，他們表示這筆交易將令首爾成為世界級武器供應商的雄心鋪平道路。

Hanwha Aerospace 董事 Oh Kyeahwan說道：

“捷克共和國、羅馬尼亞、斯洛伐克、芬蘭、愛沙尼亞、拉脫維亞、立陶宛和其他國家曾考慮只在歐洲購買國防產品，但現在更廣為人知的是，您也可以從韓國公司低價購買並是快速交貨。”

這筆交易是該國同類交易中規模最大的一筆，它承諾提供數以百計的產國設計火箭發射器、榴彈砲、坦克和戰鬥機。

所有這些有與美國和北約系統兼容的設計。

波蘭官員表示，韓國提出以比較差不多任何國家都快的速度製造武器是一個關鍵考慮因素。

韓國與朝鮮有持續緊張關係, 意味著的武器生產始終經常運行並不斷升級。

波蘭分析師 Oskar Pietrewicz 將此與另一個主要武器供應國德國進行了對比。

“考慮到德國國防工業作為地區性主要武器供應國的有限生產能力，各國對韓國提議供應的興趣可能只會增加。 例如，匈牙利在 2018 年從德國訂購了 44 輛豹式坦克，但到目前為止還沒有任何交付。”

韓國官員告訴路透社，他們已建議華沙在波蘭境內生產武器，以便於交付。

不過，波蘭國防部沒有回應書面置評請求。

上個月，韓國總統 Yoon Suk-Yeol 告訴路透社，如果烏克蘭受到大規模的平民攻擊，韓國可能會在人道主義和經濟援助之外向烏克蘭提供支持。

從那以後，他的政府已經批准在烏克蘭使用至少一些韓國武器部件。

       So, South Korean government has an agreement to supply weapon to Poland. The deal is the country’s biggest-ever of its kind. Unexpectedly, South Korea’s weapon making industry is benefiting from the war in Ukraine.