Indonesian defence minister likely to attend KF-X rollout event in S/Korea

Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is expected to attend an upcoming rollout ceremony showcasing a prototype of South Korea’s first indigenous fighter jet, sources said on Thursday.

This was what could be a sign the country remained committed to the joint development project.

Indonesia had promised to shoulder 20 per cent of the 8.8 trillion won (7.9 billion dollars) development cost, but it had stopped making payments after investing 227.2 billion won with around 600 billion won overdue.

Spurring speculation that the country was seeking to quit the KF-X project.

Whether Indonesia would send senior officials to the rollout ceremony expected to take place in the first couple of weeks of April has been a focus of attention because it would signal the country would remain a partner for the project.

“As far as I know, Indonesia has delivered to our government an intent that senior military officials, including Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, will attend the KF-X rollout event,’’ a source said.

Kang Eun-ho, the head of South Korea’s arms procurement agency, visited Indonesia in March and handed over the invitation.

Eyes were on whether the defence cooperation between the two sides would get back on track on the occasion of Prabowo’s visit.

Besides the fighter jet project, Indonesia signed a deal with South Korea in 2019 to purchase three submarines, but the business had also made little progress since then.