South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on 6 February that Saudi Arabia signed a contract for 10 batteries of the Cheongung-II (Mid-range Surface-to-Air Missile II: M-SAM II) air-defence system worth USD3.2 billion in November 2023.
This dovetailed with a contract that was announced the following day during the World Defense Show (WDS) 2024 held in Riyadh from 4 to 8 January. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that LIG Nex1, one of the South Korean companies that makes the M-SAM II, had been awarded a contract that will benefit the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces and involves the localisation of manufacturing an advanced air-defence system. It did not name the system or say how much the contract was worth.
The announcements came after Saudi Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz met South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik at WDS. Prince Khalid said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed covering defence industry co-operation.
The MND said the MOU agreed that its Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) would form a joint committee with the Saudi Ministry of Defense to further develop defence industry and technology co-operation between the two countries.