KF-16 Issue
The U.S. Armed Forces are urging Korea to follow its identification friend or foe (IFF) improvement. Under the circumstances, unexpected expenditures will be incurred until 2020, the deadline of the upgrade from Mode 4 to Mode 5 set by the U.S.
The problem is that the efficiency of joint military operations is significantly affected when Korea fails to follow U.S. military trends. Financial resources are insufficient though. At present, the ROK Armed Forces have 3,200 or so pieces of defense equipment waiting for the switch, but not all of them are Mode 4, and some are still even using Mode 1.
The U.S. is in a hurry because of the safety of its soldiers. However, some experts point out that the attempt by the U.S. reminds them of a process in which a company that lost its competitive edge turns itself into a patent troll. The United States is estimated to be able to make tens of billions of dollars when its military allieslike Korea, Europe, and Japan respond to its demands.
The financial burden on the part of Korea is unpredictable for now. Some remarked that the upgrade would take a couple of trillion won, while some of the others mentioned over 10 trillion won.