Estonia and South Korea on 23 October signed a defence cooperation agreement in Seoul, under which Estonia plans to acquire South Korean Chunmoo rocket launchers to complement its US-made HIMARS systems.
The planned cooperation also entails tens of millions of euros in direct investment in Estonia’s defence industry.
“Estonia is rapidly strengthening its deep-strike capability, which will enable it, if necessary, to conduct operations on enemy territory and enhance both Estonia’s and NATO’s deterrence and defence capacity,” the Estonian defence ministry said in a statement.
The Estonian defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, and his Korean counterpart, Ahn Gyu-back, after signing the defence cooperation agreement. Photo by the Estonian defence ministry.
“To this end, Estonia intends to acquire South Korean K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers in addition to its existing HIMARS units. At the same time, the process of procuring further HIMARS launchers from the United States is ongoing.”
Further discussions on the technical aspects of the Chunmoo procurement will take place between the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments, the Korean export agency and the manufacturer. The next step will be the conclusion of the relevant framework agreements.
Estonia has previously cooperated with South Korea in the defence sector: the country’s K9 self-propelled howitzers are also produced by Hanwha Aerospace. By the end of next year, Estonia will possess a total of 36 such units.
