Ongoing Issues Prevent Indonesia from Signing Boramae Fighter Jet Purchase

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung witnessed the agreement of 10 memorandums of understanding (MoU) valued at Rp 173 trillion. However, there was no agreement on the purchase of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet. Despite this, several Korean media outlets have been vigorously reporting on the deal. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, who accompanied Prabowo in meeting President Lee, acknowledged that the Boramae fighter jet issue was discussed. However, to date, there has been no official agreement regarding the planned purchase of the fighter jet formerly known as KFX/IFX. “So in the bilateral meeting, one of the issues raised was indeed related to the IFX, and the President stated that he would soon send a team, both technical and engineering in nature,” said Airlangga, accompanied by Minister of Investment Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, to the media. Historically, the problem faced in the project’s development has been Indonesia’s stalled contribution funds. As a result, this has angered South Korea, questioning Indonesia’s commitment. A Republika source stated that the government’s latest step is not to participate in the joint development of the Boramae project. Indonesia prefers to be in the position of a buyer of the 4.5-generation fighter jet.