Australia and the Republic of Korea face an increasingly complex Indo-Pacific security environment in which technological competition, industrial resilience and the ability to sustain advanced military capability have become central to national security. While both countries maintain strong alliance relationships with the United States, evolving Indo-Pacific dynamics increasingly encourage cooperation among technologically capable regional powers able to complement national strengths and address structural constraints. In this context, Australia and South Korea enter the coming decade with increasingly aligned strategic outlooks, anchored in a shared commitment to preserving regional stability.
Over the past decade, Australia and South Korea have strengthened their bilateral engagement, with the relationship elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021. Defence-industrial cooperation has produced tangible outcomes, including Australia's acquisition of the South Korean-designed AS21 Redback infantry fighting vehicle. However, cooperation in advanced defence technology development remains largely program-specific rather than institutionalised, reflecting a gap between political ambition and practical collaboration.
This report argues that deeper defence-technology cooperation between Australia and South Korea represents a practical response to respective national constraints. South Korea possesses rapid development cycles and scalable manufacturing capacity but faces limitations on large-scale experimentation. Australia benefits from expansive test and evaluation environments and integration within allied innovation networks but faces challenges related to industrial scale and workforce capacity. Together, those characteristics create opportunities for cooperation across the capability life cycle—from research and prototyping to testing and validation.
The report identifies realistic pathways for incremental cooperation, including between national defence innovation programs. It concludes with recommendations to institutionalise defence technology cooperation between Australia and South Korea.
By transitioning from program-specific deals to institutionalised cooperation, Australia and South Korea can build a more resilient defence-industrial ecosystem and enhance collective deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.
