[Exclusive] "I would rather drive a Porsche burned by fire than a Hyundai"…'K Defense Industry' Check Crosses the Line

[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Serious Challenge to Global Competitors in K-Defense Industry
'K-2 is Hyundai-level, German Tank is Porsche'

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that global restrictions on the recently thriving 'K-Defense Industry' have reached a serious level. Global competing defense companies have been occupying domains identical to Korean weapon names to post malicious content or disparage 'K-Defense Industry' through social media (SNS). It is analyzed that these competing companies are strengthening lobbying efforts toward importing countries through veteran organizations.

Nicholas Drummond, a British advisor at the German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (WMB), posted photos of Hyundai Motor and Porsche on his social media, writing, "I would rather drive a burning Porsche 911 than a Hyundai." This is interpreted as a sarcastic remark implying that "German tanks are like Porsche, while Korean tanks are like Hyundai."

According to the defense industry on the 20th, numerous malicious posts about Korean weapons have been uploaded through the domain (k2BlackPanther.no) identical to the export version of the domestic K2 tank named 'Black Panther.' This domain, owned by the Norwegian Cavalry Club, is currently closed. The industry analyzes that the K2 Black Panther tank's failure to export to Norway was due to malicious restrictions by overseas defense companies.

Earlier, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced on the 3rd of this month (local time) plans to order 54 Leopard 2A7 main battle tanks from Germany's KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann). Following Poland, Korea's K2 Black Panther tank, which had been expected to receive consecutive export good news to NATO member countries including Norway, faced a setback. Some view that Norway's ongoing numerous military cooperation projects with Germany and political factors related to natural gas played a significant role.

However, defense experts point out that lobbying by the Norwegian veteran organization, the Cavalry Club, also played a major role in this contract competition. Øyvind Isachsen, chairman of the Norwegian Cavalry Club, serves as an advisor to First House, the PR agency of Germany's KMW. The Cavalry Club is known to have conducted lobbying for German tanks by organizing events inviting the Norwegian Minister of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

One-sided rumors favorable to Germany's KMW are also spreading through SNS. British defense expert Nicholas Drummond posted a photo of Hyundai Motor Company and Porsche together on his Twitter on October 15 last year, writing, "I would rather drive a burnt Porsche 911 than a Hyundai." Nicholas Drummond introduces himself as a UK advisor to Germany's KMW, and this post is interpreted as mocking Korea by saying "German tanks are Porsche, Korean tanks (K2) are Hyundai."

In the defense industry, since domains related to our weapons (k-2.com, k2.com, k2BlackPanther.com, k9.com, k-9.com, t-50.com) are also occupied overseas, there are calls for attention to prevent recurrence of similar cases during future domestic weapon exports. A defense expert said, "If we compete fairly with competitors in the global market, there is no problem, but active response is necessary when our companies suffer damage due to malicious restrictions by competitors," adding, "The government also needs to raise objections to the opposing countries."