Specialists wait for visitors at the stand of South Korean company LIG Defense Aerospace during the final day of the Black Sea Defense and Aerospace Exhibition 2026 in Bucharest, Romania, 15 May 2026. More than 550 defense, security and aerospace companies from 36 countries presented products and equipment at the 10th edition of BSDA, which marked 20 years since the event’s launch. Photo by ROBERT GHEMENT / EPA
June 5 (Asia Today) -- South Korean defense stocks are surging as Middle Eastern countries press for faster deliveries of Korean-made missile defense systems following recent combat use in the Iran conflict, defense industry officials said.
South Korean defense companies have completed contracts worth a combined 9.5 trillion won, or about $6.2 billion, to supply the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system to countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates. Other countries in the region are in the final stages of purchase negotiations, officials said.
If completed, the deals would link several major Middle Eastern countries into what industry officials describe as a "K-air defense belt."
Middle Eastern buyers are asking Seoul to move them up in the delivery queue, according to regional sources.
