National Defense Committee Members Calling for KFX Project Budget Reduction

The Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) project has come to a critical juncture, as some members of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly are mentioning the possibility of a budget cut.

Still, a halt of the project by the National Assembly is rather unlikely, because it can entail a very heavy political burden. At the committee meeting scheduled for Oct. 27, discussions are predicted to revolve around the development of AESA radar, one of the technologies that the U.S. is refusing to transfer, and the satisfaction of requirements for the development before the finalization of the budget.

The key is the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s report to President Park Geun-hye scheduled for the near future. The direction of the project is expected to be clarified once the report is made on the current status and details of the domestic development of the technology in question. At present, the presidential office is not expected to stop the project, despite the current lack of alternatives to U.S. technology, in view of the gravity and significance of the national defense project with Joo Chul-ki, former senior presidential secretary for foreign relations and national security, having resigned to answer for misjudgments and omissions in reports.