The South Korean government and defense companies are converging in Chile to mount a coordinated push into the Latin American market.
KOTRA's Korea Defense Industry Trade Support Center (KODITS) announced on April 8 that it is operating the largest-ever Korea Pavilion at FIDAE 2026, Latin America's biggest aerospace and defense exhibition, held at Santiago Airport in Chile from April 7 to 12 (local time). The pavilion brings together 31 Korean defense companies along with diplomatic missions.
South Korea's defense exports last year surged 60% year-on-year to $15.4 billion (approximately 23.1 trillion won), the second-highest on record after $17.3 billion in 2022. Notably, the number of export destination countries expanded from just seven in 2022 — including Poland and the United Arab Emirates — to 16 last year, marking a successful diversification of export markets. Defense companies are targeting $20 billion in defense exports this year by expanding into markets including Latin America.
The Latin American defense market has strong demand for military modernization, with aircraft and naval weapons systems averaging up to 45 years in age. Additional factors include border disputes and growing border management needs with neighboring countries, continued requirements for counter-insurgency operations and enhanced public security, and demand for maritime resource protection. A desire to diversify away from existing dependence on U.S. and European weapons has also played a role. As South Korea, Israel and Turkey have recently gained attention as emerging defense suppliers, South Korea is recognized in the Latin American defense market as a country that achieved both national security and economic growth through its defense industry.
Korean defense firms have previously made inroads into the Latin American market. Starting with a government-to-government (G2G) contract to export patrol vehicles to Peru, cooperation has expanded to include joint local construction of warships and patrol vessels, submarine design service contracts, export deals for K2 tanks and K808 wheeled armored vehicles, as well as joint production and localization initiatives.
In Brazil, Korean companies have supplied military transport aircraft wing structures and aviation components. In Chile, following a bilateral defense agreement signed in 2023, G2G export contracts were concluded for light tactical vehicles and military vehicles. In Colombia, anti-ship missile exports were followed by missile launch system export deals. Discussions are also under way with various Latin American countries on supplying tactical vehicles, anti-drone systems, submarines, naval vessels and missiles.
FIDAE is Latin America's largest defense exhibition, featuring 377 exhibitors from 33 countries and attracting 120,000 civilian and defense visitors. At the record-sized Korea Pavilion, 31 companies spanning land, sea, air and security sectors are participating either on-site or online to expand their presence in the region.
Kia (000270.KS), Hyundai Corporation (011760.KS), Poongsan (103140.KS), Hancom InSpace and SIIS participated directly, showcasing tactical vehicles, ammunition and satellite and space technologies. Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS), Hanwha Ocean (042660.KS) and Hanwha Systems (272210.KS) set up independent booths and displayed an actual TIGON 6x6 armored vehicle on site.
KOTRA said it plans to convert demand identified through the Korea Pavilion showcase and business-to-business (B2B) meetings — to which military and government procurement officials from Chile and other Latin American countries were invited — into concrete projects supported jointly by the public and private sectors. During the exhibition, KODITS, diplomatic missions, and KOTRA's Latin America Regional Headquarters and trade offices jointly held a "Latin America Defense Export Council" to review the status of Korean small and mid-sized enterprises' expansion into the region and discuss market strategies. Participants noted that Latin American countries prefer localization and joint production, and that bids are conducted in Spanish with frequent turnover of government procurement officials causing project delays, emphasizing the importance of securing specialized personnel and maintaining sustained market engagement.
A "Korea Defense Day 2026" event was also held, inviting military and defense industry officials from Chile and other Latin American countries to broaden cooperation opportunities.
"In many Latin American countries, lobbying-related regulations limit private companies' access to military officials, so we will closely operate a public-private united team to boost defense export results," said Jang Sung-gil, head of KOTRA's Korea Defense Industry Trade Support Center.