Warsaw and Seoul close to deal on producing K2 tanks in Poland, Duda says

HYUNDAI ROTEM

25/10/2024 09:39

WARSAW, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A deal allowing South Korean
K2 tanks to be produced in Poland could be signed in coming
weeks, Polish president Andrzej Duda said on Friday, a potential
boost for Warsaw's plans to build up its defences.
    Poland has been ramping up military spending in response to
Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, and South Korea has
emerged as a key arms supplier.
    South Korea's Hyundai Rotem  064350.KS , which specialises
in industrial and defence contracts, reached an agreement in
2022 to deliver 1,000 K2 tanks, but has so far only signed a 4.5
trillion won ($3.24 billion) contract to export 180 of them. 
    Poland is hoping to speed up the deployment by getting the
tanks produced in its territory.
    "I hope that ... in the coming weeks, a fundamentally
important agreement will be concluded, the effect of which will
be the real Polonisation of the K2 tank, that is locating its
production in Poland," Duda told reporters during a visit to the
South Korean city of Busan.
    "All the main issues have been agreed," he added. "There is
still a discussion that has been ongoing recently over the
choice between several places where this production would be
located."
    The announcement came two days after the United States said
it had seen evidence that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to
Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine.
    The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on Duda's
statement.
    On Thursday, the Polish and South Korean leaders agreed to
push to finalise a new contract to export South Korean K2 tanks
to Poland by the end of the year.
    

($1 = 1,388.7400 won)

 (Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper in Warsaw, Shin
Hyonhee in Seoul; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
 ((alan.charlish@thomsonreuters.com;))