S Korea to study development of indigenous fighter

From FlightGlobal:

http://www.flightglobal.com/sectionhome/sectiondefault.aspx?NavigationID=190&CategoryID=10252&SlotID=5

The South Korean government has decided to fund a two-year study into the development of an indigenous KFX fighter…

The defence ministry will spearhead the initiative and later this year is expected to submit cost projections, the DAPA says. Seoul will decide at the end of 2012 whether to proceed with full-scale development…

South Korea will foot 60% of the development costs, the DAPA says, adding that the remainder will come from overseas. Some local news reports have cited the Eurofighter consortium and Boeing as potential partners…

If development of the fighter is undertaken, it is projected it will enter service after 2020. Would there be any point in S Korea developing a 4th gen aircraft for service entry in the next decade? If not, what do Boeing or Eurofighter have in terms of 5th gen aircraft studies?

To meet its more immediate needs, South Korea plans to call for bids next year on new fighter aircrafT, say reports citing unnamed military sources.

If I remember correctly the last time S Korea invited bids Dassault declined to bid. In an earlier competition in which Rafale was reported to have been rated more highly than the F-15, the F-15 was nevertheless selected.

Would Eurofighter be wasting their time bidding? What about talking about partnership on the indigenous fighter – would that be a waste of time and money, too?