S. Korea, Indonesia discuss diversifying defense industry cooperation

On Wednesday, Korea and Indonesia engaged in discussions aimed at broadening their defense industry cooperation, as announced by Seoul's arms agency. This conversation took place during a routine bilateral meeting in Jakarta, hosted by representatives from Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Indonesia's defense ministry.

The officials explored various methods to diversify the partnership models between the nations' defense companies, encompassing joint development, local production, and joint exports to external markets, according to DAPA.

Both parties also reviewed the current state of significant ongoing defense cooperation projects and deliberated on subsequent actions to implement these initiatives. Korea has been engaged in the development of its indigenous KF-21 fighter jet in collaboration with Indonesia, as outlined in an agreement to share development costs while transferring technology to Jakarta.

However, this project has encountered challenges as Jakarta endeavors to reduce its financial contribution in exchange for a diminished transfer of technology.