Defense Minister Kim asks Indonesia to buy S. Korean submarines

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin on Friday asked Indonesia to buy South Korean-built submarines for Jakarta's aging naval fleet, the defense ministry here said.
Kim held talks with his Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro in Indonesia earlier Friday. During the meeting, Kim "strongly asked" Yusgiantoro to choose South Korea's Type 209 submarines.
In July, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, a South Korean company, was picked among the final candidates, along with a French company, to export submarines to Jakarta. The Indonesian project to acquire three submarines is said to be worth about US$1 billion.
The ministry said Yusgiantoro "duly recognized the high performance of South Korean submarines."
"The Indonesian defense minister said he will consider Indonesia's procuring process and the development of future-oriented bilateral relations between the two countries before selecting the preferred bidder," the ministry said in a statement.
On this trip, Kim was accompanied by executives from major South Korean defense contractors. These officials attended a seminar on developing the defense industry and held separate talks with Yusgiantoro and other high-ranking Indonesian military officials, the ministry said.
In May, the South's state-run Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) agreed to export the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jets to Indonesia.
During the ministerial talks, Kim and Yusgiantoro signed an agreement to set up a committee to handle bilateral arms industrial cooperation, the ministry said. The two also agreed to push for an early signing of their defense cooperation agreement that will define the direction and scope of their defense exchanges and mutual logistical support.
"Kim's trip to Indonesia should help raise our defense and industrial cooperation relationships to another level to match the two countries' strategic partnership," the ministry said.