The pattern of arms production in the developing world has often been described as a series of gradual and progressive steps leading to greater self-sufficiency in the design, development, and manufacturing of weapon systems. The development of the defense industry in the Republic of Korea has been a near-textbook example of this process. Starting with almost no arms production in the early 1970s, South Korea by the mid-1990s had built up one of the most impressive defense industrial bases in the developing world. Since the mid-1980s, South Korea has increasingly emphasized the indigenous development and design, as well as the local production, of weapon systems. The ROK has initiated several ambitious indigenous arms programs, including local production of the American F-16 fighter. At the same time, South Korea faces mounting obstacles as it attempts to progress up the ''ladder of production'' toward greater autonomy in defense production. The country's defense industrial base is heavily overcapacitized and still highly dependent on foreign technology. Several barriers to the further indigenization of arms production can be identified, including (1) a low level of interest on the part of South Korean private industry in over-involving itself in arms production; (2) a preference on the part of the ROK military for license-producing foreign weapon systems over devoting significant time and resources to support indigenous research and development; and (3) various structural weaknesses in the ROK defense R&D base, including poor linkages between the defense R&D and manufacturing bases, a passive management system in local military production, weak design and systems integration skills, and a lack of long-range R&D planning. The ROK arms industries presently appear to be at a ''technology plateau,'' and as South Korean indigenization efforts expand, so do the holes in its defense industrial base become more egregious. Weapons manufacturing does not necessarily get any easier the further up the ladder one progresses. At the same time, South Korea is not likely to abandon its indigenous arms industries or its ambitions to become more self-sufficient in weapons design and development. Local defense industries are still perceived to be important national assets, essential to ensuring a secure and reliable source of arms for national defense, as well as a driver of considerable high-tech activities. In addition, the overall technological advancement of the ROK is continuing, and local high-technology industries could help underwrite further indigenization efforts. In the long run, overcoming the technology plateau may be less a technological problem for the ROK than a bureaucratic, organizational, and structural one.
