South Korea and the United States agreed to swiftly pursue a Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreement (RDP-A), which would provide mutual access to each other's defense markets, the Ministry of National Defense announced during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration on April 12, 2024.
At the time, the defense ministry said in a press release, "The defense ministries of Korea and the United States held the 24th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) meeting in Washington, D.C. on the 11th (local time)." It added that "both sides agreed on this to enhance supply chain resilience and deepen bilateral defense cooperation."
The ministry further explained that the agreement to swiftly pursue the RDP-A was a follow-up task under "modernizing alliance capabilities through evolution into a science and technology alliance," one of the three core pillars of the "Korea-U.S. Alliance Defense Vision" agreed upon at the 55th Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in 2023.
The RDP-A, often called a free trade agreement for the defense sector, is an agreement the U.S. Department of Defense signs with allies or friendly nations to ease trade barriers when exporting mutually procured products. While the United States has signed RDP-As with 28 countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Japan, Korea is the only major ally missing from the list.
Two years later, around late April, news emerged that the consortium formed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin had abandoned its bid for the U.S. Navy's next-generation Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) program. The decision came due to the Trump administration's "Buy American regulations," which reflect its push to protect domestic industries.
Because the RDP-A has not been signed, Korea — which would manufacture and supply the FA-50 airframe — would need to make significant investments to meet the strengthened Buy American Act (BAA) requirement of at least 75% U.S.-made components. This inevitably puts Korean firms at a competitive disadvantage compared to rivals that enjoy RDP-A benefits.
Trump 2.0 Administration Doubles Down on America First
The United States applies a "Buy American preference" when procuring weapons, requiring that at least 55% of total costs be filled with U.S.-made components. Otherwise, a surcharge of about 50% is imposed on export costs. Countries that have signed an RDP-A, however, are exempt from the surcharge even if they do not meet the preference ratio.
Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the People Power Party cited the withdrawal of the KAI-Lockheed Martin consortium from the U.S. Navy's next-generation advanced trainer program, saying, "The RDP-A will also affect future exports of naval vessels and ground weapons," and noting that "the Cheong Wa Dae-White House high-level channel should be activated to swiftly conclude the agreement."
Over the past two years, did the military authorities choose not to sign the Korea-U.S. RDP-A, or were they unable to? To give the answer up front: the prospect of signing during the Trump 2.0 administration, which puts "America First" front and center, is slim. The first Trump administration maintained the same stance.
The Yoon Suk-yeol government had at least formed a consensus to pursue the RDP-A at a Korea-U.S. summit with the Biden administration. With the aim of signing in 2024, the defense ministry set up a pan-government task force led by the vice minister and accelerated the process, but the effort did not come to fruition due to the fallout from the December 3 emergency martial law.
Looking at the current prospects for concluding the RDP-A, the prevailing view is that "an opportunity once lost does not return."
Above all, the Trump 2.0 administration's America First stance and its tightened Buy American Act (BAA) requirements — even stronger than during the first term — stand as major obstacles. The RDP-A has yet to make it onto the negotiating table between the defense ministries of the two countries, let alone at the summit level.
A military official lamented, "A delay in signing the RDP-A will adversely affect future MASGA naval export projects and exports of ground equipment to the United States," adding that "the reality is that the chances of signing the Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreement are slim, as the Trump 2.0 administration's America First stance is even stronger than in the first term."
