Author: Rafał Lipka, Reuben F. Johnson

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Polish government launched an unprecedented military modernization program with the primary long-term objective of establishing Poland as a major land power in Europe. In 2024 alone, Poland’s defense spending reached PLN 170 billion or USD 43 billion, accounting for over 4.2 percent of GDP. In 2025, the overall defense spending could reach up to USD 50 billion, accounting for nearly 5 percent of Poland’s GDP. This clearly indicates that Poland should no longer rely on off-the-shelf military procurement. The Polish government must ensure greater involvement of the domestic industry in manufacturing, maintaining, and developing military hardware in the future. Nonetheless, achieving the level of industrial advancement seen in other leading nations would take years, if not decades, and certainly cost billions of dollars in research and development. Given Poland’s geopolitical conditions and the lingering fear of another conflict in Europe, the only way to overcome the aforementioned issues is to follow the path of other states that have faced comparable problems in the past like the Republic of Korea. Since 2022, the Polish-South Korean cooperation has accelerated significantly, demonstrating the commitment of both governments to strengthen industrial and economic ties between Seoul and Warsaw. The Polish Ministry of National Defense has ordered hundreds of K2 main battle tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, K239 rocket launchers, and FA-50 aircraft. The scale of Poland’s military procurement represents an unprecedented opportunity not only to strengthen the Polish Armed Forces but also to transform the Polish defense industry, which lags behind that of other industrialized nations. Potentially, Poland could cooperate with South Korean defense companies, such as Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Aerospace, to jointly manufacture and export South Korean-Polish weapon systems to other European countries. Considering that no Polish company is currently capable of manufacturing main battle tanks, the cooperation with the South Korean defense industry in the K2 program presents an opportunity to re-establish Poland as an MBT producer to meet the needs of the Polish Armed Forces and potentially attract other export customers. Therefore, the cooperation with the South Korean industry could be highly beneficial for numerous Polish defense companies.

Research supported by the Korea Foundation