Cho Hyun-ki, vice president of HYUNDAI ROTEM EUROPE SP. Z O.O., the Polish subsidiary that serves as a bridgehead into the European defense market, said this in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily on the 15th, discussing strategies for the continued growth of South Korea's defense industry. Cho previously served as head of the Resource Management Office at the Ministry of National Defense.
On the K2PL tank program, which will see more than 60 units produced in Poland, Cho said, "In close cooperation with our local partner, we are proceeding without a hitch on building local production facilities and on technology transfer procedures."
He added, "To establish a local production system, in April we signed an agreement with Bumar-Łabędy, a defense firm under Poland's state-owned defense group PGZ, on local production and maintenance cooperation for the Polish version of the K2 tank, putting in place a practical plan for cooperation on local assembly and production."
On the production site for the K2PL tank in Poland, he said, "Based on the results of our on-site due diligence, we finalized the Bumar-Łabędy plant in Gliwice, signed the contract and built the production facilities."
Cho named Romania as the European country where Hyundai Rotem is most likely to land an export contract soonest. "A great deal of progress has been made," he said. "With the local political situation stabilizing and the project gaining speed, we expect good results before long."
On the export prospects for unmanned weapons systems such as the HR-Sherpa multipurpose unmanned vehicle, he said, "It is a weapons system that has been delivered to our military and proven its performance. Based on outstanding technology, we are receiving many inquiries from around the world, so export prospects are very high."
He added, "The HR-Sherpa is actually being deployed in our military's missions, and it can be fitted with a variety of equipment tailored to military operational purposes and operated unmanned, both remotely and autonomously. Its export competitiveness is very strong, so the likelihood of landing overseas sales is high."
Asked about Hyundai Rotem's differentiated competitiveness in the global market, Cho pointed to "world-class rapid delivery capability and an all-round follow-on logistics support system to keep militaries operating smoothly," as well as "the capability to provide a comprehensive support framework tailored to local needs, including local production, technology transfer and maintenance support."
On why localization strategy matters, he said, "As Europe's push for defense self-reliance has strengthened recently, the European market is building high walls through bloc-oriented strategies such as financing support, supply chain restoration and the SAFE fund. Political entry barriers rooted in political, diplomatic and geopolitical factors have also grown higher than in the past."
He also said, "Through active cooperation with the countries concerned, Hyundai Rotem is establishing and pursuing customer-tailored localization strategies across product specifications, supply chains and maintenance. In the tank and wheeled armored vehicle supply programs we are currently pursuing in Peru, we are also considering carrying out part of the production process locally."
Finally, on how Korea's defense industry can break into the global top four, Cho said, "Localization strategy, including securing production bases, is the most important thing. Hyundai Rotem plans to sharply expand local bases tailored to global markets."
Cho is a retired Army brigadier general and a graduate of the 46th class of the Korea Military Academy, a classmate of Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul and Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee. He served as chief of staff of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and as head of its acquisition policy division, technology policy division, maneuver programs division and Basic Forces Program Bureau, before serving as head of the Resource Management Office (grade 1) at the Ministry of National Defense.
