SEOUL -- First came glitzy, boppy K-pop. Then came soapy, soppy K-drama. Now, according to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, it is time for another K-moniker for a new, more pessimistic era, as the country with a relentlessly global brand seizes another booming export niche: weapons.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has created an arms shortage that South Korean contractors are increasingly being called upon to replenish, sparking an anguished debate in a nation that has "been suffering from the effects of war for 70 years now." (Illustration by Hiroko Oshima)
The Big Story
K-defense: South Korea's weapons industry goes global
Amid heightening confrontation with North, Seoul finds niche filling global arms shortages
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