Deutsche Welle German radio, Germany plans to sell South Korea surplus ground to air US-made Patriot missiles in a deal worth millions of dollars, the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) reported in its Monday edition.
Defense ministry officials were in the South Korean capital Seoul last week to put the final touches to the deal, it said, quoting military sources. But the deal would only be finalized next year.
The German military wants to cut the number of its batteries of Patriots from 32 to 24, according to the newspaper.
On July 13, 2005, Deutsche Welle reported:
A German defense chief met with South Korean officials on Wednesday for talks on the sale of second-hand Patriot missiles to Seoul, the defense ministry said.
Klaus von Sperber, director of international armament affairs in Germany's defense ministry, visited Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung and other Korean military officials, Yoon's office said. Sperber arrived in the country earlier Wednesday for a two-day visit. South Korea last week revived a project to buy Patriot missiles, but a decision on whether to buy missiles directly from the United States or second-hand ones from other countries has yet to be taken.
From next year, South Korea hopes to replace its aging ground-to-air Nike missiles, introduced 40 years ago, with Patriot missiles.
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