Four Korean defense companies are the world's second largest in growth last year... "Expanding share in Ukraine."

Last year, South Korea's major defense companies showed steep growth thanks to a surge in demand for weapons following the war in Ukraine.

Sweden's Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report said sales of four companies - Hanwha Group, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), LIG NexOne and Hyundai Rotem - rose 39% year-on-year to $11 billion and around 15.4 trillion won last year.

In terms of rankings, Hanwha ranked 24th, up 42 notches from the previous year, and all four companies were on the list of the world's top 100 defense companies, ranking 56th in KAI, 76th in LIG NexOne, and 87th in Hyundai Rotem.

In particular, it was the second-highest after Russia, which has a 40% increase in sales, and the combined sales of four companies surpassed the combined sales of $10 billion of five Japanese companies included in the top 100 companies.The

report cited the increase in arms sales in South Korea and Japan due to increased threats in the region and analyzed that South Korean companies are trying to increase their share in the global arms market, including demand in Europe, in relation to the war in Ukraine.

Among the top 100 companies, Korean companies account for 1.7% of sales, ranking eighth in the world along with Germany.The

report also said that sales of weapons and military-related services by the world's top 100 companies rose 4.2% from the previous year to $632 billion last year and about 887.8 trillion won due to fluctuations in the international situation such as the Ukraine war and the Middle East conflict.

Of these, the U.S. accounted for about 50 percent, and a total of 41 U.S. companies are listed in the top 100 companies.