Yoon to build Korean aerospace program similar to NASA

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, right, and Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of Yoon's presidential transition committee present the incoming administration's 110 policy proposals during the committee's general meeting in Seoul's Jongno District, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration plans to build an aerospace administration akin to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, to consolidate the country's position in the space race.

According to the presidential transition committee, the incoming Yoon administration has selected space development as one of its 110 policy proposals and plans to create a separate administration to create far-reaching effects from the country's space program in national defense, security, social and industrial sectors.

Unlike leading countries in space development, Korea lacks an independent government organization or research institute specialized in aerospace operations that reports directly to the president.

Similar to NASA, the new administration will consolidate the country's space projects and policies currently spread across several ministries, including the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is in charge of space research and development, while the National Space Council led by the prime minister makes decisions on relevant policies.

While running in the presidential race, Yoon pledged to ramp up the country's space development by building an independent aerospace administration in Sacheon, where the country's leading aerospace company Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is based.

By restructuring aerospace governance and establishing a space industry cluster in Sacheon, it plans to foster the research and development of space technology and enforce policies to propel the country to join the ranks of seven space powers, including the United States, Russia, the European Union, China, Japan, and India, according to the committee.

However, Yoon's pledge to build the control tower in Sacheon has met with opposition from the scientific circle, as most of the country's research institutes that contribute to space innovation, including KARI and the Agency for Defense Development, are located in Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province.

The committee's decision to choose Sacheon over Daejeon is regarded as part of the incoming administration's course to encourage cooperation with the private sector.

Several aerospace enterprises, such as KAI, Korea Testing Laboratory's (KTL) aerospace parts testing center, and Korean Aerospace Valley are located in Sacheon. A total of 73 aerospace companies, including KAI and Hanwha Aerospace, asked the transition committee in March to establish the control tower in North Gyeongsang Province.

The committee said the incoming administration expects the establishment of the aerospace administration in Sacheon to encourage international cooperation in space development and help the successful launch of Korea's first domestically developed space launch vehicle (SLV) known as "Nuri" in June and the lunar probe in August.

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