The presidential office said on the 29th that Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik departed on the 28th as President Lee Jae-myung's special envoy for strategic economic cooperation. As Lee has set "global defense industry top four" as a state goal, the move is meant to actively support the government's push to win weapons contracts in countries across Europe and the Middle East.
The presidential office announced that morning that Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik departed the previous day as a presidential special envoy for strategic economic cooperation. It did not disclose the countries to be visited or details of specific projects. Earlier, Kang visited Poland, Romania and Norway in October this year as a special envoy. Last month, Kang visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to discuss K-defense exports and cooperation.
This is the third trip abroad, and Kang is expected to discuss defense industry cooperation and provide side support for Korean corporations' bids. Earlier, President Lee appointed Kang as a special envoy to carry out the state task of becoming a "top four defense industry" power, saying Kang would perform the mission three times through the first half of next year. K-defense has continued to win orders this year for K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and tanks with Vietnam, the Philippines, Poland and Peru.