• After the official announcement that the F/A- had been chosen, the
F- proponents began to lobby strongly to the Blue House to have the deci-
sion overruled. Each side made charges against the other, accusing one
another of payoffs and similar dirty tricks. Eventually the F/A- decision
was overturned and the F- selected.^11 Despite pressure from both the F-
and F/A- companies, I was happy to be able to avoid any direct involve-
ment in this controversy.
The second defense program in which we had a major interest was the
ROK Navy’s antisubmarine-aircraft program. The American candidate was
the PC, a very capable aircraft with which the U.S. Navy had had great
success. The PC was manufactured by Lockheed, and the competition was
a French aircraft called the Atlantique. The PC was a superior aircraft from
an operational standpoint and had a far more technically sophisticated ca-
pability. There were also logistical and operational advantages because the
PC could be used in combined operations with U.S. Navy forces, a serious
consideration since the French, unlike the Americans, did not actively ex-
ercise their forces near the Korean peninsula. The French aircraft had a
slightly lower price, however, so it was a close competition.
Ambassador Gregg took a major role in promoting the PC. Unlike the
F-–F/A- competition, which involved two American companies, this
time there was only a single U.S. company involved. Our strategy was to
provide all the information requested by the Koreans to emphasize that this
was an important contract to the American side but to avoid pressuring our
Korean allies into the sale. Both Ambassador Gregg and I felt that a reason-
ably low-key approach would be successful, and that was the strategy we
pursued.
On the day that the decision was scheduled to be announced, the French,
who had put enormous pressure on South Korea to buy the Atlantique, were
certain they had won. The French defense minister came to Seoul and sched-
uled a big party in anticipation of victory. That afternoon, the ROK govern-
ment announced the selection of the American PC. The French minister
was so angry that he refused to attend his own reception, and he left Seoul
the next day, abruptly canceling several appointments.
Since then there have been several investigations and even some arrests
in conjunction with other defense plans and programs. As someone who
has observed these programs and been involved in the details of these com-
petitions, I think this is a healthy sign. A clean and honest acquisition pro-
gram is essential to the overall security of the country and is necessary to
ensure the support and confidence of the Korean people. My experience