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2mo ago

South Korea Opens Record ADEX 2025 With Air Shows and AI-Enabled Weapons

Officials frame the showcase as a springboard for defense export growth.

Visitors take a look around aircraft displayed at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2025 at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Oct. 17, 2025. (Yonhap)
The Air Force's Black Eagles acrobatic team performs at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, during the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition on Oct. 17, 2025. (Yonhap)

Overview

  • The event opened at Seoul Air Base with public flight displays by U.S. F-35s, F-15Ks, KF-16s, T-50THs and a KF-21 demonstration, with the air shows running through the weekend.
  • Organizers say a record 600 companies from 35 countries will participate, with KINTEX indoor space expanded 58% to about 2,900 booths for the trade segment starting Monday.
  • Exhibitors are emphasizing unmanned and AI-driven systems, including Hanwha's automated K9 howitzer variants and the L-PGW loitering munition designed to autonomously identify and strike targets.
  • A recently announced 8.2% rise in the defense budget to 66.3 trillion won supports plans to modernize manned and unmanned capabilities and to widen export partnerships with the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and others.
  • The showcase unfolds as South Korea leans into fast-growing arms exports and as Chinese sanctions on Hanwha Ocean-linked affiliates highlight tensions over U.S.–Korea defense shipbuilding cooperation.