Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

On June 11 (local time), Eurosatory 2018 was held in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center near Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. Eurosatory is the world’s largest Land Defense and Security industry trade fair. The exhibition ran until June 15.

Eurosatory has been held every two years since its first edition was organized in 1967 by the French Land Defense Industries Group (GICAT: Groupement des Industries Francaises de Defense Terrestre). This year is the 26th anniversary of the exhibition.

This year’s exhibition was attended by 1600 exhibitors, including 30 Republic of Korean defense industries, from 60 countries in the world.

The Korea Defense Industry Association promoted excellent domestic defense products to the European, Middle Asian, and African regions by building a Republic of Korea booth in partnership with domestic defense industries.

Ten companies including Hanwha, Hanwha Land Defense Industry, Hanwha Defense, Hanwha System, Hyundai Rotem, LS Mtron, and Yeonhap Precision had prepared their own booths, while 16 other companies including Dongin Optical, KPCM, Somovision, Insopack, and Soosung Machinery participated in the exhibition by building a booth for small and middle-sized businesses.

The Hanwha Group’s defense industry affiliates, whose 444㎡ booth was the largest of the participating Republic of Korean companies, attracted attention from visitors with its exhibitions of actual samples and mock-ups for 40 different key weapons and systems, including an electro optical tracking system for vehicles (Hanwha System), self-propelled artillery (Hanwha Land Defense Industry), and complex antiaircraft guns and missiles system (Hanwha Defense).

“Our country’s defense industry exports reached about 3 billion and 190 million dollars (about 3 trillion and 383.3 billion won) last year, a sharp increase in comparison with the previous year. This can be attributed to our great accomplishments in European markets such as Finland. As Europe is a big market that is responsible for 20% of global defense spending, we will be able to maintain our growth if we focus on diversifying our export items,” said an official from the participating Republic of Korean defense industries.

“Eurosatory is an important exhibition that has been receiving attention not only in Europe but also from Middle Asia and Southeast Asia. To make a Korean Wave in the defense industry through this exhibition, we are actively engaging in marketing by introducing products and solutions from competitive Republic of Korean defense industries,” added the official. 

By Seok-Jong, Lee < seokjong@dema.mil.kr >
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