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The KF-21 Boramae fighter jet takes its maiden flight test on July 22, 2022. (courtesy of DAPA)

South Korea appears likely to heed Indonesia’s request to reduce its contribution to the development of the next-generation KF-21 Boramae fighter jet program from 1.6 trillion won (US$1.17 billion) to 600 billion won (US$438.9 million). Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Economy and Finance are expected to reach an agreement on the matter and announce a final decision at a DAPA meeting later this month.  

“Continued failure to make payments at a point when we are approaching systems development and fielding, may cause delays in development. If decisions regarding shared costs are pushed back, it’s expected to have an impact on the fielding of the K-21 fighter,” DAPA announced. 

If Jakarta’s financial contribution is slashed to one-third of its original pledge, then the previously reached agreements regarding technology transfer may also be adjusted. DAPA has also mentioned that it will “review” former agreements to provide test KF-21 fighters to Indonesia. 

The KF-21 joint fighter development program was originally scheduled to take place from 2015 to 2026. The original agreement had Indonesia contributing 20% of the total costs of 8.1 trillion won (US$5.92 billion), which amounted to around 1.6 trillion won (US$1.17 billion). It also contained an agreement to transfer the technology for building the fighter to Indonesia. Yet after consistently falling behind on payments, Indonesia has proposed that it pay only 600 billion won in total by 2026. 

Some observers speculate that Indonesia has already acquired the technology it was after, and is now seeking to split without paying the check. In response, DAPA has announced that “technology leaks and financial contribution are two separate issues.” The technical team that Indonesia dispatched to Korea Aerospace Industries, which has been tasked with building the KF-21, was caught trying to steal key documents containing technical secrets this past February.   

“Indonesia should have been excluded from the project as soon as they started defaulting on payments,” said Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum.

“The people in charge should be held responsible for doing such a dismal job in running the project,” he added.  

By Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

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