Korea's golden era in defense industry is over! Korean media: Korea's defense sector, facing off against the European team, has lost all 4 matches… Merely relying on cost-effectiveness won't break through

Canada's next-generation submarine project chooses NATO ally Germany instead of South Korea. Korea proposed "rapid delivery" — but the European team boosts speed in competition

On the 6th local time, the Canadian government selected ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany as the preferred negotiation partner for its next-generation submarine program. On that day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney explained the rationale: "Both TKMS and Hanwha Ocean meet Canada’s demanding naval requirements," and "TKMS proposed adjusting the order of German and Norwegian orders to deliver submarines earlier."

Germany was initially behind Korea in the delivery race, but Norway — a fellow NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member — gave up its own delivery schedule, offering strong support within the European bloc, enabling TKMS to compete directly with Hanwha Ocean. At first, Hanwha Ocean held an advantage during bidding thanks to its technological strength and commitment to delivering four submarines before 2035. However, constrained by the European bloc’s barriers, Korea’s defense industry could not leverage its strengths.

Including this round of bidding, Korea’s defense industry has suffered four consecutive defeats against Europe in major defense tenders recently. In May, Hanwha Aerospace lost the Romania next-generation infantry fighting vehicle project worth 6 trillion KRW (approximately RMB 27.1 billion) to Germany’s Rheinmetall; in June, it lost the follow-up upgrade project for France’s multi-launch rocket system to a UK-France consortium. In November 2025, in the Poland next-generation submarine procurement project valued at 8 trillion KRW (approximately RMB 36.1 billion), Hanwha Ocean failed to beat Sweden’s Saab. Thus, South Korea remains excluded from Europe’s solid security and defense alliance, enduring repeated setbacks.

On the same day, Hanwha Ocean released a statement saying: "We have given our full effort in the tender process, but we couldn’t overcome the NATO alliance barrier." Also on that day, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration head Lee Yeong-jul stated: "The decisive difference lies in NATO interoperability and cooperation aspects." Meanwhile, President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Ankara, Turkey, to attend the NATO summit and posted on Facebook: "K-defense industry’s bold challenges will not cease," and "the government will spare no effort to provide full support including research and development, export assistance, and deeper international cooperation."

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1870134819122183/

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