Auteur de la note

Tudual Le Droumaguet

Tudual Le Droumaguet est né le 13 avril 2000 à Cherbourg-Octeville. Titulaire d’une licence d’histoire acquise en 2020 au campus Mazier de l’université Rennes-2, à Saint-Brieuc, et d’un master d’histoire spécialité « relations internationales, mondialisation et interculturalités » à l’université Rennes-2 en 2022, il a soutenu dans ce cadre un mémoire de recherche sur la politique étrangère des Émirats arabes unis. Passionné de géopolitique, il s’intéresse à toutes les régions du monde.

Autres analyses

Taiwan cooking oil scandal: Why Isn’t Beijing Adding Fuel to the Fire? • Isabelle Feng

31 July 2026 No Comments

In this new piece, Isabelle Feng looks back at the tainted cooking oil scandal that has affected Taiwan for several weeks, and at Beijing’s measured response to the affair. She examines the protests held in Taipei on 25 July, the coverage of the event by Chinese state media, and reactions observed on Chinese social media. She puts this episode in perspective alongside the history of food safety scandals in mainland China and the question of freedom to protest on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Asia Sparks | The Birth of a Giant: How South Korean military exports are shaking the weapons market worldwide • Tudual Le Droumaguet

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The Birth of a Giant: How South Korean military exports are shaking the weapons market worldwide

By Tudual Le Droumaguet, Sparker at Asia Centre. 

↑ Download the Spark via the PDF button above. 

This Spark examines the transformation of South Korea’s defence industry, known domestically as K-Bangsan, into a major global arms exporter, currently ranked ninth worldwide with an ambition to reach fourth place by 2030. 

Executive Summary 

• After two decades of heavy reliance on the US for its security in the aftermath of the Korean War, South Korea started to build a powerful military-industrial complex called K-Bangsan in order to defend itself against North Korea with more autonomy.
• This military-industrial complex’s dramatic rise was enabled by intense government investments, and priorities on new technologies, drones, AI and innovation.
• Seoul then became a major arms supplier worldwide with ever-increasing sales since the early 2000s, ranking ninth in 2025 and ambitioning to become fourth by 2030. Two key reasons for this success are its openness to build weapons on its customers’ soil and its quick deliveries.
• One of the most strategic markets for South Korea is Eastern Europe, where Poland and Romania ordered weapons to be manufactured locally, hoping to build their own in the future.
• The Middle East is another region where South Korean military exports have heavily increased. Türkiye, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are indeed keen to produce their own weapons, as well. This shows how much Seoul is profiting from geopolitical changes that happened in the last few years.


About Asia Sparks

Asia Centre has developed a new program: Asia Sparks, a coaching program for the new generation of researchers. It brings together seniors, called coaches, and Sparkers, young researchers wanting to produce intellectual work on Asia. Each research project is referred to as a “Spark.” This project is coordinated by Élodie Papin, Secretary General of Asia Centre, and the coaches consist of various experts from Asia Centre. Ultimately, the work produced may be published in Asia Trend issues.

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