Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong (R) stands together with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto ahead of their meeting at Seoul's foreign ministry, in this photo provided by Chung's office, on Friday. (Chung's office)
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto on Friday and agreed to work together to move substantial cooperation between the two countries forward, including an ongoing joint fighter jet development project, the ministry said.
The meeting took place as Prabowo was in South Korea to attend the rollout ceremony of a prototype of South Korea's first indigenous fighter jet, named the KF-X in the South and IF-X in Indonesia.
"The ministers agreed to make joint efforts to continue to advance mutually beneficial, substantial cooperation, such as the joint KF-X/IF-X fighter jet development project, based on the deep trust between South Korea and Indonesia as special strategic partners," the ministry said.
Prabowo held talks with Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday.
As part of the joint development deal, Indonesia is supposed to shoulder 20 percent of the total development cost in the 8.8 trillion-won ($7.9 billion) project. But Jakarta stopped making payments after investing 227.2 billion won, with around 600 billion won overdue.
That has sparked speculation that the country may be seeking to quit the business.
In Friday's talks, Chung and Prabowo shared an understanding on the need for a "two-plus-two" dialogue involving the two countries' foreign and defense ministers to further strengthen strategic communication in the diplomatic and security areas, the ministry said.
As a first step, the two sides agreed to a two plus two dialogue at the director-general level, it said.
At the talks, Chung also expressed hope that Indonesia will continue its support for Korea's peace process, and Prabowo, in turn, reaffirmed his country's unwavering backing, the ministry added. (Yonhap)