Can Japan take on South Korea in the race to sell warships?

Japan’s drive to sell more weapons abroad is likely to bring its defense companies into closer competition with South Korea, with naval markets providing the first test. In April, the Japanese government scrapped a longstanding restriction that had limited exports of finished defense products to five noncombat categories, clearing the way for a broader range of weapons transfers. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has championed expanded defense exports as a way to bolster the country’s defense industrial base and to deepen security ties amid intensifying regional geopolitical contests.