US remains unswayed over Seoul's bid to buy Global Hawks

The United States has reaffirmed that it can sell Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to South Korea only if related international restrictions are lifted, Seoul's defense procurement agency said Tuesday.

"The U.S. said it was not opposed in principle to the sale of Global Hawks," the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a press release summarizing the results of head Lee Sun-hi's trip last week.

However, U.S. officials emphasized that the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) should first be revised.

South Korea aims to introduce the Global Hawk to boost its defense capability, but the UAV, which can conceivably be used as a delivery system for weapons of mass destruction, is considered a Category I system under MTCR guidelines, indicating that it is a "technology of greatest sensitivity."

The DAPA also said Seoul's plan to market its new supersonic trainer jet, the T-50, is gathering steam. Developed in 2005, each jet is priced at US$20 million.

In May South Korean officials learned that the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services directed the U.S. Air Force to provide an analysis on whether the U.S. should replace its aging and cost-inefficient T-38 jets with the new South Korean-made T-50 jets.

"Lee asked the U.S. Air Force to send pilots to South Korea to appraise the capacity of the T-50," the DAPA said. "South Korea and the U.S. plan to start working-level preparations for the visit." But the agency provided no further details, including the exact timing of the planned study.

If the U.S. purchases the South Korean jets, the purchase will serve as a model of the two allies' cooperation in the defense industry, stated the DAPA.

Seoul, Jan. 16 (Yonhap News)