SEOUL - South Korea said on Thursday it will reopen competition for its 8.3 trillion won ($7.43 billion) purchase of 60 next generation fighter jets which had been suspended due to the high prices of bids received.

"We have decided at the defence project committee meeting to resume bidding for the F-X project," a spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told a briefing.

DAPA suspended bidding after none of the entries, Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35, Boeing Co's F-15 and EADS's Eurofighter Typhoon, submitted bids meeting the required price. ($1 = 1117.0500 Korean won)