Last Two Weeks: South Korean defense industry goes into hey day

 The S.Korean defense industry hit a jackpot to export tanks and howitzers to Poland as Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Defense signed contracts with Poland to respectively supply 80 K-2 battle tanks, and 212  K-9 howitzers, which totals $5.76 billion.  Korea Aerospace Industries is also in negotiation with Poland to ship 48 FA-50 supersonic jet fighters. S.Korea has now become the 6th largest exporter of arms and weapons in 2021, ahead of Italy and China,  through a "More value for the money" sales approach to compete against main rivals.   This success would not be possible without Vladimir Putin and Kim Jongun.  Putin's recent invasion into Ukraine forced Poland to provide existing weapons to Ukraine and fill the vacuum with those from S.Korea. Kim's constant sabre-rattling  has been prompting S.Korea to invest in the development and production of sophisticated, lethal and reliable weapons that have global competitiveness. 

 A big contrast to 1950 when  S.Korea had no tanks in the Korean War. The North Korean army with Soviet made T-34 tanks showed up in Seoul without much resistance just three days after they crossed the 38th parallel.   While S.Korea has become a major player in the modern weapons industry,  it also has sharpened weapons for traditional battlefields.  Arrow combat.  S.Korea won 4 of 5 golds in archery in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.