Defense Minister Kim to visit Indonesia this week

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin will visit Indonesia this week for talks on regional security and bilateral defense cooperation, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
Kim is scheduled to visit Indonesia from Wednesday to Friday and hold talks with his Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro on Thursday.
"The defense ministers will exchange their views on the state of the regional security and discuss bolstering defense and defense industrial cooperation," the ministry said in a statement. "The two countries will also sign an agreement to set up a committee to handle arms industrial cooperation, ensuring more systematic and efficient discussions on their respective industries."
According to the ministry, Kim will also attend a seminar on the development of the shipbuilding industry and visit military facilities.
"In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is an important partner of ours in defense cooperation," the statement added. "Minister Kim's visit this week will help take our defense and industrial cooperation relationships to the next level."
Military officials earlier said Kim's visit will also be aimed at securing a US$1 billion deal to export attack submarines to Indonesia.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is working to modernize its aging naval fleet. In July, a South Korean company, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, was picked among the final candidates, along with a French company, to export submarines to Jakarta.
An official had said the shipbuilding company could be chosen as the preferred bidder during Kim's stay. The defense minister will be traveling with executives from nine South Korean defense contractors, including Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
In May, the South's state-run Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) agreed to export T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets to Indonesia.