Figure marks decline from 1998-2001 period
South Korea imported weapons worth US$600 million last year, becoming the world’s eighth-largest arms buyer, according to an annual report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service. The value of arms purchased by South Korea between 2002 and 2005 stood at $2.4 billion, or ninth worldwide for that period. That is less than half the $5.2 billion worth of weapons purchased between 1998 and 2001, when South Korea was the world’s fourth-largest arms buyer. During the entire eight-year spread between 1998 and 2005, South Korea bought weapons worth $7.6 billion, making it the world’s eighth-largest buyer. Over the past 10 years, South Korea was included among the world’s top 10 arms buyers. The Congressional Research Service based its findings on the U.S. government’s non-disclosure statistics on arms deals and shipments around the world over the past eight years.Last year, the world’s No. 1 weapons importer was Saudi Arabia at $3.5 billion, followed by Israel ($1.7 billion), India ($1.5 billion), Egypt ($1.5 billion), China ($1.4 billion), and Taiwan ($1.3 billion). By region, the Middle East - which includes large-scale buyers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Israel - was the largest buyer. Northeast Asia, which includes China, Taiwan, and South Korea, matched the Middle East in terms of arms purchases. The United States was the world’s top arms seller, accounting for 34.5 percent of weapons deals between 1998 and 2001 and 38.2 percent between 2002 and 2005. The U.S. was followed by Britain, Russia, France, and Germany. Last year, the U.S. sold weapons worth $8.1 billion to emerging nations. In the meantime, North Korea exported $1 billion worth of weapons between 1998 and 2001, ranked the world’s 11th-largest arms seller. However, North Korea wasn’t ranked between 2002 and 2005 because it was not believed to have exported weapons worth over $1 billion during that time period.
