 |
| This photo shows the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's office in Daejeon, July 3. Yonhap |
Germany plans to simplify its procedures for exports of defense products to South Korea starting next month, Seoul's arms procurement agency said Wednesday.
From Sept. 1, Germany will no longer require its companies supplying non-sensitive defense and dual-use goods to South Korea to receive approval from its federal export control office, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
Currently, German companies have to receive export licenses to ship defense-related goods to the country, as well as when South Korean military equipment containing their products is exported to other nations.
Under the new measure, the companies will only be required to report their exports to authorities after they have been shipped, DAPA said, citing Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
The agency said it expects the move to resolve issues stemming from existing export procedures, such as delays to Seoul's military asset deployment, and lead to active efforts from the two countries' companies in the global defense market.
The measure also reflects Berlin's view of Seoul as a country equivalent to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member under its arms export rules, it added, noting that such benefits have been given to European Union and NATO countries along with a few others.
Berlin's decision comes as Seoul has recently sought to boost ties with NATO amid growing security uncertainties from North Korea's continued saber-rattling, an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry and Russia's war in Ukraine.
Last month, President Yoon Suk Yeol attended the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and announced Seoul's decision to increase military information sharing with the alliance. (Yonhap)
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a029c9ea411f4aef94c6310f6a7c3c54.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Seoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3439cc1e2d744b85ab81fdcf6f045ba5.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
