South Korea Establishes Guidelines to Align Defense Exports with NATO Standards
South Korea has implemented new domestic guidelines designed to assist its defense companies in meeting the technical standards required by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member nations for arms exports. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will now serve as an institutional channel, providing defense companies, research institutes, and government agencies with access to NATO military specifications. This move streamlines a process that previously involved individual companies handling compliance on a case-by-case basis. DAPA will obtain unclassified standards directly from NATO's online database and request authorization from NATO for classified standards. This initiative aims to ensure strict compliance with NATO standards, encompassing both equipment specifications and security protocols, thereby facilitating the export of military hardware such as K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 main battle tanks to NATO countries. The absence of a common legal framework for standardizati... 
