TSAMTO, January 28. The Government of the Republic of Korea has approved the transfer of one corvette from the South Korean Navy to the command of the Indonesian Navy.
As reported by Navalnews.com with reference to a source familiar with the deal, in April last year, the Chief of Staff (commander) During his visit to the Republic of Korea, Admiral Yudo Margono of the Indonesian Navy requested the transfer of three corvettes. At the moment, the transfer of only one ship has been confirmed. At the same time, the issue of the transfer of two additional ships is still under consideration.
The class of the ship that will be transferred to Indonesia has not yet been disclosed, but Naval News believes that the Indonesian navy will probably receive a Pohang-class corvette.
According to a number of experts, the decision to supply corvettes from the fleet may open the way for Indonesia to purchase additional submarines or surface ships from the Republic of Korea.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will soon send its specialists to carry out maintenance of the first two 1,400-ton Nagapasa-class submarines delivered to Indonesia under a contract worth $1.07 billion. Together with them, Indonesia will be visited by the head of the Defense Procurement Program Agency of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea (DAPA) Kang Eun Ho, who intends to discuss the sale of three additional submarines worth $0.97 billion. The deal signed in 2019 is currently in limbo, as the Indonesian government has not made an initial payment of $180 million.
Indonesia is one of the largest importers of VIVT from the Republic of Korea, first of all, it concerns naval equipment. The Republic of Korea, in particular, supplied Indonesia with a Makassar-class DVKD. Nevertheless, some South Korean observers believe that the Indonesian government is "freezing" cooperation. Such sentiments intensified after the suspension of the purchase of the second batch of DAPL and K-FX fighters. In case of a breakthrough during the visit of the head of DAPA, relations between the two countries can improve.
