Seoul: The chief of the state arms procurement agency will visit Norway and Saudi Arabia next week to discuss ways to expand arms industry cooperation, officials said Thursday, amid South Korea’s push to boost its overseas arms exports. Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Minister Seok Jong-gun will embark on the two-nation visit on Sunday as part of Seoul’s efforts to become the world’s fourth-biggest arms exporter by 2027, according to the officials.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in Saudi Arabia, Seok is expected to hold talks with Abdullah bin Bandar Al Saud, the minister of the national guard, to discuss ways for South Korean firms to take part in Riyadh’s bid to modernize its ground equipment. Seok will also meet with Khalid bin Hussein Al-Bayari, assistant minister of defense for executive affairs, to discuss Saudi Arabia’s plans to procure marine and aviation assets. Additionally, a workshop session will be held to brief South Korean firms on these plans.

In Norway, the DAPA chief will visit Kongsberg Satellite Services, also known as KSAT, which participated in assessing South Korea’s military reconnaissance satellite project. The discussions will include expanding bilateral space cooperation and potential exports of self-propelled artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

South Korea has already launched three homegrown military spy satellites, under a plan to acquire five spy satellites by this year to better monitor North Korea with an independent military satellite network. On the back of the upcoming trip, Seok expects South Korea to achieve record arms exports this year, vowing to continue efforts to meet its goal by 2027, DAPA stated.