Germany stopped one of the export activities of the Republic of Korea, which has a strong defence industry infrastructure.

According to the statement of the Republic of Korea, K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer export was caught in one of Germany's defence embargoes. The country's current procurement negotiations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been hampered by Berlin's restriction on defence systems in Abu Dhabi. Within the scope of the agreement between Hanwha Defence and UAE in 2019, the delivery of 20 platforms in defence backstage was foreseen, although it was not announced through official channels how many K9 Thunder would be delivered. It is stated that the German component that hinders sales is the MTU production MT881 Ka-500 diesel engine that power the platform and other German-made subcomponents.

Germany restricted the sale of defence systems to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia due to their involvement in the Civil War in Yemen and some of Saudi Arabia's illegal activities.