US Government Denies F-35 Technology Transfers to South Korea

This decision makes me wonder if this technology transfer denial has anything to do with how the ROK military continues to have issues keeping classified information secret?:

South Korea’s plan to receive technology transfers from Lockheed Martin in exchange for purchasing F-35 stealth fighters has partly been scrapped due to rejection by the U.S. government.

New Politics Alliance for Democracy Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek said that the U.S. rejected the export of four technologies, including the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system, among 25 core technologies that were to have been transferred.

The military had planned to load the AESA radar, which is more capable of detecting targets than existing radars, on South Korean fighter jets.

Minister Chang Myoung-jin of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said at a parliamentary audit on Thursday that the agency is pursuing both domestic development and international cooperation to develop new technologies following the rejection from the United States.

DAPA is said to be seeking to independently develop the AESA radar and infrared search technologies and jointly develop comprehensive technologies for electromagnetic interference equipment with a European corporation.

A DAPA official said although Lockheed didn’t fulfill its contract terms, there is no way to impose sanctions as the U.S. government rejected the deal.   [KBS World Radio]