S. Korea’s presidential office to set up control tower for arms exports

Lim Jong-deuk, the second deputy national security adviser [Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea’s presidential office will create a task force responsible for coordinating pan-government support for defense exports, a move that will help keep up strong sales of arms exports.

According to the Office of National Security on Wednesday, a new team, tentatively called defense exports planning team, will be created, and will be headed by Lim Jong-deuk, the second deputy national security adviser.

Lim was appointed in August of last year by President Yoon Suk-yeol to boost defense exports.

Lim, former chief of staff at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, studied at the NATO Defense College while serving as a colonel in Korea. Back in September of last year, only a month after he took office as the second deputy national security adviser, he flew to Poland to meet with Polish defense minister and other top officials to support defense export contracts between the two countries.

The creation of the new team comes after Korea exported a record $17 billion worth of arms to Poland and other countries last year.