South Korea plans to build a howitzer factory in Romania

South Korean arms manufacturer Hanwha Defense has announced plans to build a howitzer factory and a regional center in Romania.

According to TVP, the factory is planned to be built in the Dâmbovița County in southern Romania, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026 and take two years to complete. The construction is expected to create around 2,000 jobs. The cost of the project has not been disclosed.

Hanwha Defense, a subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace, intends to gradually transfer production to Romania, while urgent orders will continue to be fulfilled in South Korea for now.

In addition to the production, repair, and maintenance of the future Romanian K9 howitzers, the factory will also work on products that Hanwha manufactures and sells to other European countries.

"Our priority is the supply of K9 and K10... but we already have several such machines in NATO and Europe, so the idea is to be able to produce components, provide maintenance, and repair them here in Romania," said Michael Coulter, CEO of Hanwha Global Defense, during a meeting with Romanian journalists.

One of South Korea's largest defense customers in Europe is Poland, which signed the largest arms deal in Seoul's history in 2022, worth around $22 billion. According to the Polish Ministry of Defense, the framework agreement includes the supply of 1,000 K2 tanks and over 600 K9 howitzers.