Republic of Korea and the F/A-18

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 08-01-02 AT 05:01 PM (GMT)]The current discussion on the F-X competition got my memory working. In the mid-to-late ’80s the RoKAF were looking for a lightweight fighter. Needless to say, two of the foremost contenders were the F-16 and F/A-18. Both were tested and were apparently both popular with the evaluation teams.
This is where things get a little odd. I seem to remember there being serious pronouncements – in Air International, for instance – that South Korea would buy BOTH aircraft. Photographs began to appear in the aviation press of Hornets with RoKAF markings above captions like “The Republic of Korea Air Force has selected the F-18 as its new air combat fighter, blah blah, a mixed buy with GD’s F-16, blah blah. Etc.”.
Of course, the RoK never did get the Hornet, but did field the F-16 in numbers.
So what changed? Was the mixed Falcon/Hornet force ever a serious possibility?