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South Korea seeks to push export of FA-50 light attack aircraft to Peru.


| 2015
a
World Defense & Security Industry News - South Korea
 
 
South Korea seeks to push export of FA-50 light attack aircraft to Peru
 
South Korea's President Park Geun-hye will seek the export of South Korea's light attack aircraft to Peru during her four-day state visit to the South American country, an official said Sunday. Park arrived in Lima on Saturday for talks with her Peruvian counterpart, Ollanta Humala, on how to further strengthen economic and other relations. The talks are set to be held on Monday, April 20.
     
South Korea's President Park Geun-hye will seek the export of South Korea's light attack aircraft to Peru during her four-day state visit to the South American country, an official said Sunday. Park arrived in Lima on Saturday for talks with her Peruvian counterpart, Ollanta Humala, on how to further strengthen economic and other relations. The talks are set to be held on Monday, April 20.
Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light attack aircraft
     
South Korea said a planned rollout ceremony for the first basic trainer assembled in Peru in cooperation with the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. could help Seoul's push to export FA-50 fighter jets to Peru.

The ceremony is to be held on the sidelines of Park's visit.

Under a 2012 deal, the sole South Korean aircraft manufacturer is helping Peru assemble 16 turbo-prop planes called the KT-1P for the Peruvian Air Force. Separately, KAI has already built and delivered four trainers to Peru.

Park's visit came as KAI is competing with foreign rivals to win a contract worth about US$1 billion for Peru's next generation light attack aircraft by offering its FA-50 supersonic jets.

Park's "state visit could raise the possibility that we could win a deal," KAI President Ha Sung-yong said in a brief comment to Yonhap News Agency in Lima.

The FA-50 is a light attack variant of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer that was co-developed by KAI and U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin. It is the most advanced variant of the T-50 family operated by the South Korean Air Force. The FA-50 has a radar warning receiver and a night vision imaging system, and is capable of carrying 4,500 kilograms of weapons. It also has a 20mm cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles.

Last year, South Korea signed a US$420 million deal to export 12 FA-50 fighter jets built by KAI to the Philippines under a government-to-government deal.

Also Sunday, Park visited Peru's oldest state museum as the first stop of her trip to Peru.

Park took a brief tour of the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru. The museum -- once the home of revolutionary hero Jose de San Martin -- houses about 300,000 Incan and pre-Incan artifacts.

She also met with about a dozen representatives of Peruvian fan clubs of "Hallyu," or the Korean wave, a symbolic move that illustrated the growing popularity of Korean pop culture in the South American country.

South Korean TV shows, films and pop music have gained immense popularity in Peru and other South American countries in recent years beyond China and Southeast Asian countries.

The young Peruvians clapped their hands and greeted Park with "annyeonghaseyo," which is "hello" in Korean, before giving her a stuffed llama doll and a silver brooch.

Park's office said that more than 120 fan clubs are active in Peru and estimated that their members could be somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000.

Later, Park had dinner with about 80 representatives from the Korean community in Peru and asked them to further promote Korean culture in Peru.

Peru is the second stop on Park's four-nation swing to South America designed to boost economic ties with the region. Seoul officials hail the region as a continent of opportunities.

Park's trip will also take her to Chile and Brazil, where bilateral economic and trade cooperation is expected to be high on her agenda.

(Source: Yonhap)

 
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