By Na Jeong-ju
South Korea and Indonesia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation for the development of weapons and defense technologies, including tanks, submarines and trainer jets, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.
At a summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on the sidelines of a regional forum, President Lee Myung-bak and his counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono discussed ways to boost defense and economic ties between Seoul and Jakarta.
“The leaders shared the need to jointly develop weapons and boost bilateral trade,” Lee’s spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters.
The agreement bodes well for Korea’s bid to participate in an Indonesian project to modernize its weapons.
The country is currently competing with Russia and the Czech Republic to export its T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets to Indonesia. Jakarta will announce the successful bidder early next year for 16 aircraft, enough for one squadron.
If successful, it would be Seoul’s first export of trainer jets, which was developed with its own technology. Each jet is reportedly priced at around $20 million.
President Yudhoyono told Lee that he would send his special envoy to Seoul next month to discuss cooperation in the defense industry more concretely, according to the spokeswoman.
He expressed hope that Indonesia and South Korea can step up cooperation in the development of trainer jets, submarines, tanks and other weapons.
President Lee arrived in Bali earlier on Thursday. Later in the day, he flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a two-day state visit.
On economic issues, the Indonesian leader said he hopes to double the two-way trade to $40 billion before he ends his tenure in 2014.
Indonesia is Korea’s 10th-largest trading partner, with their bilateral trade forecast to reach $20 billion this year, up from $15 billion in 2009.
Lee and Yudhoyono also agreed to boost cooperation on regional and global issues. Jakarta will serve as the chair country of ASEAN meetings next year.
In the keynote speech at the annual Bali Democracy Forum, which Lee co-chaired with Yudhoyono, he stressed that the ever-widening economic gap between South and North Korea demonstrates that democracy is a prerequisite for economic prosperity.
“Despite the inter-Korean confrontation, the Republic of Korea has achieved industrialization and democracy within just one generation,” Lee said.
“Our economy has become 38 times bigger than that of North Korea during the six decades following the war. The fact demonstrates the correlation between democracy and fast economic growth.”
He said that a country cannot resolve a regional problem on its own, stressing the importance of a close cooperation among Asian nations.
Lee did not mention North Korea’s deadly artillery firing on a South Korean island last month. Lee’s aides said the President wanted to show Seoul’s determination to deal resolutely with the North’s attacks and any possible future provocations through action rather than repeated words.
Today, Lee will hold a summit with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on strengthening economic relations.
Lee will return to Seoul early Saturday morning.