This file photo, released by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), shows one of two KF-21 Boramae prototype fighters successfully conducting their first separate armament flight tests after taking off from the Air Force’s 3rd Flying Training Wing in Sacheon, 300 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 28, 2023. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The head of South Korea’s arms procurement agency has visited Indonesia to try to resolve Jakarta’s unpaid share of costs for a joint fighter jet development project, his office said Thursday.
Eom Dong-hwan, minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), left for Indonesia on Wednesday and is expected to stay there until this weekend for talks with senior Indonesian defense officials, according to DAPA.
“The meeting was scheduled with difficulty as the Indonesian officials in charge kept changing,” a military source said.
Jakarta’s commitment to the KF-21 project, launched in 2015, has faced questions due to its delay in payments. Payments were halted in January 2019 before being resumed in November 2022.
As a partner country, Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 percent of the project’s cost of 8.1 trillion won (US$5.99 billion) through 2026 in return for receiving one prototype, along with the transfer of technology and producing 48 units in the country.
Indonesia is estimated to have paid 278.3 billion won for the project so far and is behind in payments by nearly 1 trillion won.
Last month, President Yoon Suk Yeol met with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, for a summit in Jakarta, where they reaffirmed their commitment to successfully completing the KF-21 project.
(Yonhap)
