This file photo provided by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on June 28, 2023, shows the sixth prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet.
SEOUL, July 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Indonesia has missed the deadline to provide South Korea a new payment timetable for the joint KF-21 fighter development project, Seoul’s arms procurement agency said Monday, renewing concerns over Jakarta’s commitment to the program.
In May, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Minister Eom Dong-hwan said Indonesia had agreed to provide the new payment plan by end-June in an apparent effort to ease worries over its unpaid share of the project’s costs.
As a partner country, Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 percent of the 8.8 trillion-won (US$6.73 billion) project launched in 2015 to develop an advanced supersonic fighter.
But it had halted payments from January 2019 until last November and is currently known to be behind on payments by about 800 billion won.
A DAPA spokesperson told reporters that the country has yet to provide the new plan and that the agency is seeking to hold talks with Indonesia over the matter.
“We will plan response measures after checking with the Indonesian side, such as pushing for a senior-level meeting,” Lt. Col. You Hyoung-keun said in a regular briefing.
Last November, Indonesia made a payment of 9.4 billion won to South Korea for the project, marking a resumption after nearly four years. It also made a payment of around 41.7 billion won in February.
DAPA plans to deliver the fighter jet to the South Korean Air Force in the second half of 2026.
(Yonhap)
