An Indonesian defense official said that the country is willing to continue cooperating with South Korea in the KF-21 fighter jet development project even after some Indonesian employees at the Korea Aerospace Industries(KAI) allegedly tried to steal related technologies.

According to the Indonesian daily Kompas on Monday, Dedy Laksmono, director of technology and defense at the Indonesian defense ministry, said that the country is willing to continue despite the incident.

Regarding Indonesia's failure to remit its contribution to the project, the official said that the defense ministry has allocated a budget of one-point-25 trillion rupiah, or 106-point-five billion won, for the payment this year and hopes to fulfill its obligation.

Indonesia, a partner country in the KF-21 fighter jet development project, agreed to pay for 20 percent, some one-point-seven trillion won, by June 2026 on the condition that 48 of the aircraft are manufactured in Indonesia.

The amount was later discounted to one-point-six trillion won, but Indonesia has failed to pay, raising questions over its commitment over the program.

Amid the payment issues, two Indonesian engineers working at the KAI were caught allegedly trying to steal technologies on a USB last month.