Poland to purchase additional 180 tanks from South Korea in June
The signing ceremony for the second executive agreement for the delivery of 180 K2 tanks to Poland, with an estimated value of KRW 9 trillion (approximately USD 6.2 billion) is to take place at the end of June in Poland, South Korean agency Yonhap reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.
The contract is the second executive agreement under the 2022 framework agreement, which provides for Poland to acquire a total of 1,000 K2 tanks. Under the new agreement, 117 units will be manufactured by South Korean company Hyundai Rotem, and the remaining 63 will be produced in Poland as part of a technology transfer to the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), as revealed by a representative of the defence industry.
The contract was originally supposed to be completed at the end of 2023, but its signing was delayed due to internal issues in both countries. The Yonhap agency stressed that South Korea was thrown into political chaos after the then-president, Jun Suk Yeol, declared a short-term state of martial law on December 3, 2024.
Earlier, after Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul's visit to Warsaw in March, South Korean media suggested that the agreement could be concluded as early as April. At the end of May 2025, Poland's Armament Agency reported that the contract was at the stage of price negotiations and review by the Attorney General's Office.
According to Korean media, the new agreement will be worth significantly more than the first contract for 180 tanks, as it covers a wider range of cooperation, including technology transfer, service conditions and the production in Poland of an improved version of the tank, designated K2PL.
At the end of July 2022, Poland and South Korea declared a strategic partnership in the field of armaments. In addition to the K2 tanks, the Polish government purchased K9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 light combat aircraft from the Republic of Korea.
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