Finland’s protection chief Antti Hakkanen speaks through the Korea-Finland Innovation Discussion board held at Seoul Nationwide College in Seoul, on this photograph offered by the Embassy of Finland in Seoul, Sept. 9. Yonhap
Finnish Protection Minister Antti Hakkanen voiced satisfaction with Helsinki’s buy of South Korean Okay-9 self-propelled howitzers as his nation is contemplating shopping for a variety of different South Korean protection merchandise and expertise.
“We’re actually joyful about it. We’re happy with the capabilities that it gives for us,” Hakkanen advised a gaggle of reporters in Seoul on Monday on the sidelines of the Korea-Finland Innovation Discussion board meant to discover dual-use applied sciences within the protection and personal sectors. “We are actually sort of assessing all of the merchandise, the expertise, what the South Korean business can present.”
Finland is among the 9 nations, together with six member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO), exterior of South Korea that use the Okay-9 howitzer. Finland first signed a deal in 2017 to buy 48 used South Korean howitzers over a seven-year interval and modify them earlier than deployment.
Whereas the Finnish protection chief didn’t present additional particulars on potential acquisitions, he mentioned the swift supply time and prime quality of South Korean protection merchandise may make them interesting for European nations in search of to beef up their protection capabilities not too late.
“Europe ramped down its complete protection business after the Chilly Struggle. Now it has been ramped up, however it should take a number of years,” he mentioned. “Time is the important thing. That is why South Korea is understood. You are able to do prime quality, quick.”
South Korean military’s Okay-9 self-propelled howitzers transfer throughout a navy train in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 17. AP-Yonhap
Hakkanen’s remarks got here as a slate of European nations wish to beef up their protection spending within the face of fixing safety circumstances, most notably triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland, which borders Russia and joined NATO in 2023 amid the continuing conflict, noticed its protection price range account for two.41 % of its complete GDP in 2024. Not solely is the determine larger than the NATO guideline of two % however considerably larger than the 1.45 % the nation logged in 2014.
Whereas noting the similarities between South Korea and Finland, as high-tech nations with democratic societies and market-oriented economies, Hakkanen mentioned nuclear and renewable vitality are another sectors the place the nations may additional work collectively exterior of the protection sector.
However what may open a “new part” for one more degree of bilateral cooperation can be cooperation in safety, he mentioned.
“Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are enjoying actually an enormous sport collectively, and if you happen to have a look at historical past, dictators are usually not vanishing wherever, they’re getting worse,” he mentioned. “That is why democratic nations, though we’re located at an extended distance from one another, now we have to play collectively.”
“In fact, one factor is that we joined the NATO, and South Korea is a associate for NATO,” Hakkanen mentioned.
Requested about whether or not South Korea ought to present deadly weapons in assist of Ukraine within the ongoing conflict, the Finnish protection chief mentioned such weapons could possibly be essential for the survival of an impartial nation, making observe of Finland’s personal historical past.
“When Finland was attacked by Stalin in 1939, some nations mentioned we may give you monetary support, however that did not assist as a result of we wanted weapons and ammos,” he mentioned.
“That is why we really feel the Ukrainians’ ache from our historical past, that now we have to provide them what they should defend themselves. However each authorities does their very own assessments.” (Yonhap)
