President Yoon Suk-yeol and Indonesian President Joko Widodo hold a joint press conference at the presidential office in Seoul, Thursday, following their summit. Joint Press Corps

KF-21 conducts second flight test successfully

By Kang Seung-woo

Despite last week's summit between Korea and Indonesia, concerns over Jakarta's possible default on the KF-X joint fighter jet program still remain, after the meeting failed to come up with a clear-cut solution to the Southeast Asian country's overdue payment problem.

The KF-X, aimed at producing an advanced multirole fighter jet, was initiated in 2001 and the two nations signed a deal in 2010 to cooperate on the project. Indonesia agreed to finance 1.6 trillion won, amounting to 20 percent of the total development cost of 8.8 trillion won ($6.71 billion), in exchange for a number of planes to be manufactured there for the Indonesian Air Force as well as technology transfers. But Indonesia has been defaulting on the deal since 2017, failing to pay 800 billion won it promised so far.

In the lead-up to the summit, Thursday, there were expectations among the local defense industry that the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also known by the nickname Jokowi, to Seoul may serve as momentum to finding a breakthrough in resolving the overdue payment issue. In addition, the successful first flight of the domestically developed KF-21 Boramae fighter jet before Jokowi's arrival added to the anticipation. The KF-21 is made by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the nation's lone aircraft manufacturer.

However, the much-heralded summit appears to have turned out anticlimactic, with neither of the two leaders going into details about how to fix the problem, raising speculation that the payment issue may not have been high on the agenda during their talks, contrary to the presidential office's expectations that the payment issue would be settled soon.

"The two countries have reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together so that the joint fighter jet program can proceed smoothly until the end," President Yoon Suk-yeol said during a joint press conference after the summit at the presidential office.

According to Yoon's office, Widodo proposed to Yoon during the summit that the countries hold consultations to resolve the payment issue.

"Given that Jokowi made the proposal, it is time that working-level discussions be followed," said an official of Yoon's office.

However, while Yoon referred to Indonesia's commitment to the KF-X program, the Indonesian president did not mention issues related to the KF-X during the press conference.

Last November, as delayed payments for its share raised doubts about its sincerity of the program, the two countries newly agreed that Indonesia would make 30 percent of its total payments in kind, although the country has since reneged on the agreement.

A KF-21 Boramae fighter jet flies over Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province during its first flight test, July 19. Courtesy of Defense Acquisition Program Administration

In that respect, there have been calls for Korea to part ways with Indonesia and seek ways to proceed with the project independently.

However, some say that Korea is in a position that it cannot push Indonesia too hard to pay its share of the KF-X due to their long history of defense cooperation.

Indonesia purchased 16 T-50 supersonic trainers from KAI under a $400 million deal in 2011, while the country also signed two separate deals in 2011 and 2019 to procure a total of six 1,400-ton submarines from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

"Indonesia played a certain role in helping Korean defense companies gain a footing in the international market. This issue needs to be approached from a long-term perspective," a defense industry official said.

Meanwhile, the KF-21 successfully carried out its second test flight, Friday, according to sources. The fighter took off from the Air Force's 3rd Flying Training Wing in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province at 11:02 a.m., and flew for 39 minutes.