Jakarta. Indonesia and Seoul have entered talks to identify the “next phase” of their KF-21 fighter jet deal, according to a South Korean envoy.

The KF-21 Boramae fighter jet has become a major element in Indonesia’s ties with South Korea, extending bilateral cooperation beyond commercial activities. The deal puts Indonesia as a junior partner in developing the twin-engine fighter aircraft. By sharing the development costs, Indonesia could clinch the technology transfer needed to expand its own graying military fleet. 

But in late June, Jakarta announced that it would abandon the co-production plan in favor of buying the aircraft directly. Almost a month later, Seoul announced the conclusion of the development of its first homegrown KF-21 plane, which is bound to join the South Korean Air Force. Questions now linger over the fate of the future fighter jets meant for Indonesia.

Uhm Taeho, counsellor and the political section chief at the South Korean Embassy in Indonesia, shared how his country views the latest developments. He framed the project as being “very successful” for being able to roll out the first plane.

"If we are satisfied with what our countries have invested and the partnership that we have, ... we are bound to have the next phase," Uhm Taeho told a workshop with Indonesian reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We are undergoing discussions on what specific form the next phase of the cooperation [will have]. I wouldn't necessarily point out a change because we haven't put out anything yet.”

He acknowledged that defense cooperation in general is susceptible to economic situations. Talks on the next phase will likely reach their conclusion “soon”. Uhm Taeho admitted that the KF-21 program had witnessed some “hiccups” in its course, which they managed to overcome by “tweaking the terms” based on “mutual consent”.

Speaking at the same briefing, Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela, who leads the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s policy strategy center for Asia-Pacific affairs, said there had been some shifts in the “order of priorities” for both sides.

“But we reached the end goal [of the co-development],” Nabyl said. 

In recent years, Jakarta requested to cut its financial commitment, leading to reduced technology transfer. The Southeast Asian country previously struggled to keep up with the payment deadlines. Their engineers were also under investigation for alleged data theft related to the warplane. 

A bilateral document on the establishment of the so-called “special comprehensive strategic partnership” in April saw the two G20 economies expressing commitment to the KF-21 cooperation. This elevated ties was a key outcome of President Prabowo Subianto’s trip to South Korea at the time.

In late June, Defense Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait told the Jakarta Globe that the government had factored in the program's effectiveness and technology transfer before switching to the direct procurement model. They also considered economic value and domestic defense needs. He did not say how many units Indonesia would buy, saying that such decisions hinge on the Air Force’s needs and the national spending capacity.

At the moment, Indonesia is on a major military modernization push, even more so with Prabowo —  a retired army general —  at the helm. 

The KF-21 project has a price tag of around 8.8 trillion won or almost $6.4 billion, according to media reports.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) spearheads the program with Indonesia’s airplane maker PTDI acting as its partner.

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The workshop was part of the Indonesian Next Generation Journalist Network on Korea program. Hosting this capacity-building program are the foreign policy think tank FPCI and the Korea Foundation.

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