Indonesia and South Korea sign defense cooperation agreement

Indonesia and South Korea sign defense cooperation agreement

2011-09-09 21:09:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- The governments of Indonesia and South Korea on Friday signed a defense agreement to strengthen its cooperation, local media reported.

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro hosted his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-Jin, while Defense Ministry official Pos M. Hutabarat of Indonesia and Lee Yong-Dae from South Korea signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Pos said both countries had agreed to hold regular, bilateral talks on the joint production, marketing and development of defense systems that are used in both countries. In addition, both sides agreed to exchange information on defense industries.

Among their topics of discussions, the delegations reviewed South Korea's KF-X/IF-X fighter jet project. Twenty percent of the 18-month, $8 billion project was financed by Indonesia, while the rest was financed by South Korea. Around 200 of these fighter jets are expected to be manufactured by 2020, of which 50 are expected to be purchased by Indonesia.

Purnomo underlined that Indonesia could learn from South Korea, which has developed an independent defense industry. Kim went on to say that his country is willing to share its experience with Indonesia to help develop its own industry as well.

After the signing, both ministers exchanged aircraft models as souvenirs, and Kwan-Jin acknowledged the performance capacity of the CN-235 transport plane after receiving the small model from his counterpart, the Jakarta Globe reported.

The medium-range twin-engined CN-235 was jointly developed by Spain's Construcciones Aeronauticas SA and Indonesia's PT Dirgantara Indonesia. Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Pakistan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have already used the aircraft.

In 2008, South Korea singed a $94.5 million contract for four CN-235/MPAs, which are expected to be delivered in 2012. This is the aircraft's latest version and is equipped with a radar to detect ships. In addition, the aircraft can also be equipped with weapons, such as an anti-submarine torpedo launcher.

Indonesia, meanwhile, has allocated Rp 64.4 trillion ($7.5 billion) for military spending, which represents the largest portion of the government's 2012 budget.

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