ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the history of security cooperation in Korea from the US industrial perspective, point up the economic and political issues facing us today and possibly in the future, and offers some suggestions that might benefit our mutual interests. In the 1940s and 1950s, Korea was without a defense industry and was forced to import most of its military equipment. During the next two decades, the defense industry evolved to the point where it was able to supply the majority of its equipment needs from indigenous production. The character of future defense industrial cooperation is obviously dependent on the current indigenous capabilities of Korea’s defense industry. The chapter considers the issues we face today as a result of past efforts in industrial cooperation and the current state of capability. The globalization of the defense industry-the change from a domestic to an international business-comes at a time when Korea needs to develop its own capability further.
