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US President George W. Bush will request that President Kim Dae-jung select Boeing's F-15 for Korea's ROKAF FX program and push for the country's purchase of some 100 fighter aircrafts during his Seoul visit on Feb. 19 and 20, Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday, quoting its Washington liaison.
The Japanese newspaper said that due to the US' transition to Stealth fighters, domestic demand for F-15s has dramatically decreased, with the Department of Defense recently placing its last order of 10 of the aircraft, and Korea will be the perfect customer for Boeing, which is facing a possible shutdown of its F-15 production line.
Three other contenders, France¡¯s Dassault, United Kingdom and Germany's joint venture Eurofighter and Russia¡¯s Sukhoi are all competing with Boeing for Korea's next-generation fighter project.
Yomiuri added that a group of US house representatives visited Seoul and met with President Kim recently, and one of the representatives said on Sunday, upon returning home, that the Korean government reacted positively toward purchasing the F-15 fighters.
(From Tokyo, Park Jeong-hun, jh-park@chosun.com )
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