Indonesia, South Korea sign revised KF-21 development agreement
“We will do our best to strengthen defense industry cooperation with Indonesia in various areas such as submarines, firepower, and air defense systems, and expand cooperation to the entire Southeast Asia region in the future,” DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun said in an announcement.
A model of KAI’s KF-21 fighter design on display at the 2023 LIMA conference in Malaysia. (Reuben Johnson/Breaking Defense)
MELBOURNE — South Korea and Indonesia have signed a restructured agreement on Indonesia’s participation in the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae fighter jet development program, the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced today.
Both countries signed a revised “Project Agreement on Joint Development” for Indonesia’s continued participation in the KF-21 program, just days after the Southeast Asian country agreed to purchase the KAAN fighter jet from Turkey.
The new agreement includes revision to Indonesia’s share of payments for its involvement in the program, following years of failing to make payments in line with the original agreement it had made in 2016.
DAPA said that Indonesia’s defense ministry was “currently initiating administrative procedures to pay the remaining share for the joint development of the KF-21,” and added that defense industry cooperation between the two countries would gain momentum again if Indonesia kept up with its share of payments.
The agreement was signed at the Indo Defence expo that took place in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, and follows meetings between DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun and Indonesian Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, as well as Indonesian Deputy Minister of Defense Donny Ermawan Taufanto.
Seok discussed the potential for future cooperation between both countries in naval and other systems during his meetings with the Indonesian ministers, according to the announcement.
“We will do our best to strengthen defense industry cooperation with Indonesia in various areas such as submarines, firepower, and air defense systems, and expand cooperation to the entire Southeast Asia region in the future,” he said in the DAPA announcement.
DAPA’s announcement did not indicate what Indonesia’s share of development costs for the KF-21 would be, although it had earlier been reported in South Korea that it would be reduced to 600 billion won ($437.8 million).
Indonesia had previously committed to footing 20 percent, or approximately 1.7 trillion won, of the KF-21’s development costs when it signed onto the program in 2010, in exchange for receiving one of the prototype aircraft and technology transfer.
However, it has repeatedly failed to pay its instalments on time and by August 2020 it was said to be 500 billion won in arrears. It subsequently asked for its share of the program to be reduced to 7.5 percent in May 2024, which South Korea agreed to in August.
It had also been reported that Indonesia sought to stretch its share of payments in installments out to 2034, although South Korea did not confirm it had committed to this timeline when it agreed to a reduced Indonesian share of the program.
Further controversy erupted when some of the Indonesian engineers sent to South Korea to study the KF-21 program were accused of attempting to steal KF-21 technical data. In July 2024, a senior KAI official said an internal review found no major problems but said the investigation was ongoing.
