Then, tune in on 5 March @ 11AM GMT for 'Should South Korea go nuclear?' feat. Yulgok Kim (Republic of Korea Forum for Nuclear Strategy), Jeeyong Kim (Republic of Korea Naval Academy) and Gyu Sang Shim @bushschool.bsky.social 👇

bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

@gnobisa.bsky.social @mybisa.bsky.social

Thanks Alex!!

7) We cautiously predict that under continued power disparity, there will be an opening for second-tier suppliers to expand their footprint in specific weapons categories.

The article is open access. Feedback welcome.

6) We find broad support for our argument in both cases where first-tier suppliers--US, UK, Russia, and France--had either excessively superior or too inferior platforms to offer.

5) Under both conditions, there is an opening for second-tier suppliers to succeed. To investigate our theoretical rgument, we examine South Korea's two recent deals in the Indo-Pacific region: the Jang-Bogo class submarines to Indonesia and the K9 Thunder howitzers to India.

4) Our argument is that due to power disparity in the international system, a structural gap is created. The first-tier suppliers continue to move on the R&D curve. They either produce the most advanced weapons systems or neglect certain platforms altogether.

3) Specifically, we ask: how are second-tier suppliers successful in the wake of defense industrial globalization? We offer a demand-side explanation: qualitative proximity to the buyer.

2) We investigate the success of South Korea, a second-tier supplier, in the Indo-Pacific region by examining two recent arms deals with Indonesia and India.