DAPA - Defense Department

[Jay]

To: United States Defense Department < Odinson >

From: LeeSoohyuck@mofa.kr.gov

Subject: [Confidential] [Senior Level] [American Defense Sales] ROK Letter of Request

Reference: (a) American-Korean Cooperative Arms Agreement (b) American Defense Sales (c) Korean Letter of Request incl.

Security: Private and encrypted Protected by the NIS and MoFA DPB

Dear Secretary of Defense,

The Republic of Korea would like to formally submit a letter of request to the State Department to the items included within the list. Pursuant of the American-Korean Cooperative Arms Agreement (AKCAA), the Republic of Korea has exercised the rights as a signatory under Article I to submit a letter of request pertaining to the agreement. The Republic of Korea has further added items to the list not originally included in the original agreement: (4) Lockheed Martin SR-71A Blackbird, (12) Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey, (5) MIM-104C PAC-2 Patriot Missile System and (50) MRAP Cougar 6x6. The Republic of Korea has also requested an update to the variant list to be more appropriate to the specific designs of the Korean Peninsula and diverse threats poised. Additionally, the original quantities requested under the AKCAA have been modified. We hope that we can submit this list to American Defense Sales to begin the process of producing the listed items as soon as possible. If the additions are acceptable, we hope that the list can be submitted to ADS for approval and receive a final production cost. Our letter of request has taken the production costs from the public data provided, we hope this assists the process.

The Republic of Korea would like to discuss a possible meeting or exchange of information with Boeing executives to discuss partnership between Korean Air Industries (KAI) to co-produce the F-15K Slam Eagle and future ROK-US weapons sales to enhance the capabilities of both parties in areas of aerial warfare and technology. We hope that Boeing and KAI can work together to distribute the production line to be mutually beneficial to both parties and increase jobs and cooperation. KAI has previously worked with General Dynamics and hopes that its reputation with American Defense contractors remains high. The partnership would allow the Republic of Korea to produce the F-15K alongside other equipment for both the Republic of Korea and United States through KAI plants in Korea. For production of United States equipment, the production would be split 40% in the Republic of Korea and 60% in the United States through Boeing. However, I hope this is something the American Government can deliberate and allow KAI representatives to meet Boeing representatives to discuss this possible cooperative relationship.

Republic of Korea Letter of Request

Country of Origin	ITEM	QUANTITY	PRODUCTION COST	RAW TOTAL COSTS
UNITED STATES	McDonnell Douglas F-15K Slam Eagle	40	100,651,785.71	4,026,071,428.40
UNITED STATES	Boeing AH-64E Apache Block III	40	35,500,000.00	1,420,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	Boeing CH-47D Chinook	30	35,000,000.00	1,050,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	Boeing E-767 AWACS	4	300,000,000.00	1,200,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	M270 MLRS	50	12,140,000.00	607,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	Lockheed Martin SR-71A Blackbird	4	34,000,000.00	136,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey	12	72,100,000.00	865,200,000.00
UNITED STATES	MIM-104C PAC-2 Patriot Missile System	5	250,280,316.84	1,251,401,584.20
UNITED STATES	MRAP Cougar 6x6	50	644,000.00	32,200,000.00
UNITED STATES	HEMTT A4	100	600,000.00	60,000,000.00
UNITED STATES	FGM-148 Javelin	400	246,000.00	98,400,000.00
				10,746,273,012.60

Signed with sincerity,
Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuck
Republic of Korea
ROK Embassy Washington D.C.

---

Republic of Korea
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
All information is protected from release by the Diplomatic Communications Security Act 1997
Authorized viewing is limited to those directly emailed, cc'd, and bcc'​

 

[Odinson]

A secure response from the Department of Defense would inform the Korean government that any request to buy items would need to be submitted to American Defense Sales, as everyone else is required to do. Items would then be approved or denied on a case-by-case basis. While the terms of the treaty between the United States and Korea technically stipulated that the United States had to build the equipment for Korea, a request would be made for Korea to purchase a "Limited Production License" for the items, as this is the new system that ADS is using. Using a LPL would not cost Korea any extra money, and would likely speed things up from both America's and Korea's perspectives. Also, ADS would request that the original items requested from the treaty be requested in one, separate LPL:
x24 McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle; x20 Boeing AH-64A or E variant Apache; x18 Boeing CH-47D Chinook; x10 UH-60P Black Hawk; x4 Boeing E-767 AWACS; x2 Boeing P-3 Orion; x30 M270 MLRS; x2000 M249; x300 M203 Under-barrel Grenade Launcher; x1500 FGM-148 Javelin; x100 FIM-92 Stinger; x400 M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (SMAW-D); and x50 HEMMT Vehicle.

All items that are not in this list can be requested in a separate LPL, though it is not guaranteed that they will be approved. Specifically, the the Osprey is not yet within production limits.
Jay