PTDI: Foreign Ministry to Address South Korea's Tech Theft Allegations

TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Indonesia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) handed over the case of Indonesian engineers being investigated for allegedly stealing KF-21 fighter jet technology in South Korea to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“Communication with the media will be handled by the Foreign Affairs Ministry because it involves diplomacy between two countries,” PTDI spokesperson Adi Prastowo told Tempo on Monday, February 5, 2024.

PTDI is one of the Indonesian industrial representatives appointed by the government, through the Defense Ministry, to participate in the technology transfer program to produce fighter jets for the Indonesia-South Korea cooperation, called KF-21. 

Previously, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Indonesian engineers were being investigated for allegedly stealing technology related to the KF-21 fighter jet.

According to the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC), the Indonesian engineers at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) were suspected of storing KF-21 development data on a USB stick.

A team of investigators from the South Korean National Intelligence Agency and the DCC were investigating the case and barred the Indonesians from leaving South Korea. “A joint investigation is currently underway to determine whether the stored data contains strategic technologies,” said a source as quoted from Yonhap.

As a partner country in the KF-21 fighter jet development project, Indonesia has failed to pay 20 percent of the project's cost of 8.8 trillion won (US$6.5 billion), raising questions about its commitment to the program, which was launched in 2015.

Indonesia is estimated to have paid 278.3 billion won for the project so far, and is nearly 1 trillion won behind in payments.

AHMAD FIKRI (CONTRIBUTOR)

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