The powerful Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman visited the South Korean capital Seoul on Nov. 16 and met with Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol. During his brief visit, the Saudi leader showed a “strong will in weapons industry cooperation.” For his part, the South Korean president also proposed that the two countries could jointly develop and produce weapons on Saudi soil.
South Korea will offer buyers of its weapons generation transfers and the ability to manufacture systems locally. Saudi Arabia aims to exponentially grow its modest domestic arms industry over the next decade. Riyadh has already signed an agreement with China to manufacture Chinese drones on Saudi soil and also needs to set up a factory to locally manufacture Turkish Bayraktar TB2s. Seoul may be offering Riyadh similar provisions for its systems.
“Defense ties between South Korea and Saudi Arabia are relatively new in the past decade; defense and intelligence cooperation agreements were signed in 2013 and 2017,” said Emily Hawthorne, senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at threat intelligence company RANE. . ” But cooperation has accelerated in recent years as Saudi Arabia has invested particularly in its own domestic military industry and worked to diversify its diversity of military suppliers away from heavy reliance on U. S. equipment.
In addition, South Korea has shared intelligence on North Korea with the Saudis, which has proven valuable to Riyadh, as Pyongyang has military ties with its main rival, Iran.
“This, along with South Korea’s close relationship with the United States – Saudi Arabia’s traditional security patron – creates a natural affinity between Seoul and Riyadh in this area,” Hawthorne said.
In addition, South Korea also produces complex weapons that meet Saudi Arabia’s existing needs.
“The type of South Korea’s maximum armament that is likely to be of interest to Saudi Arabia is anti-aircraft weaponry, adding surface-to-air missile systems,” Hawthorne said. “Saudi Arabia faces the risk of Houthi drones and has long sought to bolster its missile and drone defenses against rival Iran. “
Seoul may prove a good choice for air defenses since it has been working on two formidable systems in recent years.
This photo, taken on Sept. 25, 2017, shows the condition of a South Korean soldier next to a Cheongung intermediate-range surface-to-air missile on a media day that marks a commemorative occasion marking South Korea’s Armed Forces Day, which will fall on Oct. 25, 2017. 1 in command of the Navy’s Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je (Photo credits will need to be JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
The medium-range Cheongung II KM-SAM was developed to intercept enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles. Its interceptor missile is based on the generation of the 9M96 missile used in the Russian S-350E and S-400 complex formulas. Along with the U. S. -built. U. S. Patriot PAC-3, the KM-SAM covers the lowest point of South Korea’s air defense. For higher-point air defenses, Seoul is devising the L-SAM formula, which would merit being able to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles in the terminal phase. of its flight, placing it in a category similar to the U. S. high-altitude terminal air defense formula. In November, the L-SAM made its first successful interception as a test.
The UAE has KM-SAM’s first export customer. Saudi Arabia, which faces similar threats from the Houthis in Yemen, may also opt for this formula. Riyadh reportedly ran out of Patriot interceptor missiles earlier this year. Buying some other formula may simply lessen the threat of such a shortage, as it would give the Saudis some other supply chain for those missiles.
Seoul could help Riyadh especially diversify its military arsenal. Poland is recently undergoing a massive increase in its military, adding a first acquisition of 250 major M1A2 Abrams battle tanks from the United States. Warsaw acquired 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks, K9A1 Thunder and propelled howitzers, K239 Chunmoo artillery rockets and 48 FA-50 soft combat aircraft from South Korea.
Saudi Arabia could afford a similar acquisition if it wanted and may decide to in the foreseeable future to lessen its heavy dependency on the United States. There were recent calls in Washington to suspend U.S. arms sales to Riyadh over the Opec+ decision to cut oil production. Acquiring more South Korean weaponry would enable Riyadh to more easily weather any potential American arms embargo.
“Obviously, Saudi Arabia needs to strategically diversify its reliance on U. S. military equipment and U. S. security cooperation,” Hawthorne said. “It’s not about cutting ties with the U. S. , it’s about injecting more flexibility and creating more features (in some cases, more budget). -conscious traits) for the Kingdom. “