Korea accepted Indonesia’s proposal to drastically reduce the Southeast Asian country’s financial contribution to their joint project of developing a new fighter jet, according to the state arms procurement agency.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Friday that it approved the suggestion of cutting Jakarta’s contribution to the KF-21 project from 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to 600 billion won, about one-third of the original amount.
This decision comes amid Indonesia’s struggle to meet its obligation to pay its part of the project, through which the country sought to obtain technical data and know-how as well as the opportunity to participate in the production process in return for the cost-sharing.
DAPA officials said the benefits that the Indonesian government stands to gain from the project, namely technology transfer, will also be reduced proportionally.
