Indonesia Proposes Paying One-Third of Agreed Amount for KF-21 Jet Project with South Korea

Indonesia has proposed slashing its contribution to the KF-21 joint fighter jet development project with South Korea to roughly one-third of the original amount.

This is according to the Yonhap news agency citing sources on Monday.

Indonesia has suggested paying only 600 billion won ($442.3 million) in total for the KF-21 jet project, significantly less than the approximately 20% share it initially committed to, part of the 8.1 trillion-won (around $6 billion) program launched in 2015 to build an advanced supersonic fighter by 2026.

Recent reports indicate that Indonesia owes approximately Rp 1 trillion ($746 million) to South Korea, and has requested an extension of the payment deadline to 2034.

Initially, Jakarta agreed to the sum in exchange for one prototype model, technology transfers, and the production of 48 units in Indonesia. However, it is now proposing a reduced payment in exchange for fewer technology transfers.

Indonesia has contributed around 300 billion won to the project so far but has struggled to meet payment deadlines, raising doubts about its commitment.

Late last year, Indonesia requested South Korea to defer its payment for the project until 2034, but Seoul has maintained that payments should align with the development deadline of 2026.

A government official stated that consultations are ongoing with Indonesia, and a decision has yet to be made on whether to accept the proposal.