Korea Became Biggest Arms Importer in the World Last Year

South Korea was the largest weapon importer in the world last year.

According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service’s report released on Dec. 26, South Korea signed weapon purchase contracts worth a total of US$7.8 billion last year to become the largest customer in the world. Approximately 90 percent of the contracts were to purchase weapons from the United States such as unmanned aerial vehicles and transport helicopters.

In the meantime, Iraq ranked second by buying US$7.3 billion worth of weapons in order to make up for the withdrawal of the U.S. Armed Forces. Iraq was followed by Brazil, which recorded US$6.5 billion.

Last year, the international weapon sales amount showed a slight increase year-on-year from US$70.1 billion to US$71.8 billion. The U.S. was the largest exporter with a market share of over 50 percent. Its export amount increased approximately 35 percent from a year ago to US$36.2 billion. The U.S. was followed by Russia, Sweden, France and China. Russia’s amount edged down by US$100 million to US$10.2 billion.