"While nothing has been decided yet, we are aware that discussions are underway at the government level," a Hanwha Aerospace official told AJP on Monday.
The proposed deal includes around 20 K9 self-propelled howitzers, with an estimated value of $300 million. Should the deal proceed, the Southeast Asian country would become the 11th country to operate the K9, joining others such as Australia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, India, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Türkiye. The K9 accounts for nearly half of the global market for self-propelled howitzers.
Although South Korea has provided decommissioned patrol vessels to Viet Nam as grants, this would be the first arms sale between the two countries.
The deal would represent the first export of South Korean defense products to a socialist state. Viet Nam maintains a one-party communist system even as it has embraced a capitalist economy. The two nations were once adversaries during the Viet Nam War when South Korean forces supported the U.S.
Analysts suggest that if Viet Nam adopts South Korean weaponry compatible with NATO systems, it could signal a strategic shift away from China. The country has recently been involved in territorial disputes with China over the Spratly Islands, known in Viet Nam as the Truong Sa Islands.
In February 2023, Viet Nam's defense minister Phan Van Giang visited Seoul, where he inspected K9 howitzers at a maneuver corps and attended a briefing by Hanwha Aerospace. A Vietnamese soldier took part in K9 operational and maintenance training conducted by the Korean Army in November 2022.
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