First delivery of S. Korean heavy weapons comes to Poland

GDYNIA, Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda and the country’s defense minister have taken delivery of a first shipment of tanks and howitzers from South Korea, hailing the swift implementation of a deal signed in the summer in the face of the war in neighboring Ukraine. The two were in the Polish Navy port of Gdynia Tuesday to mark the arrival of the first 10 Black Panther K2 tanks, along with 24 Thunder K9 howitzers, from a $5.8 billion deal with Seoul. They stressed that South Korea responded quickly to the need by Poland, a European Union nation, to urgently increase its deterrence and defense as Russia is fighting a war in Ukraine, just across Poland’s eastern border. Poland is also buying Korean FA-50 fighter jets, for some $3 billion.