Korean FMS
Military authorities are planning to set up their own Foreign Military Sale (FMS) system for export purposes. The Pentagon’s FMS system, which is based on inter-government contracts, is used when the United States sells advanced weaponry to its allies.
“We are making preparations to revise the Defense Acquisition Program Act so that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration can be the main contract-signing entity in exporting military weapons,” said a high-ranking military official on January 8, adding, “Up to now, no inter-government contract has been allowed to be made in such cases, even when a government guarantee was demanded by export destinations, but the Korean government will be included in the contract-signing entities through the revision.”
The reason for the introduction of the system is because an increasing number of other parties are calling for a government-to-government contract with the exports of weaponry skyrocketing. When this type of contract is concluded, the Korean government can vouch for the quality of the exported defense products and the fulfillment of the contracts.
Last year, the export amount reached US$3.4 billion. It is approximately 14 times that of eight years ago, when the administration was set up. The export items were diversified as well from ammunition and shells to light fighter jets (FA-50), trainers (T-50), self-propelled guns (K-9), and large-scale naval vessels.