South Korea's Space Program
Korea Economic Institute of America ACADEMIC PAPER SERIES September 10, 2014 Joining the Asia Space Race: South Korea’s Space Program By Daniel A. Pinkston Introduction Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (ICOC).8 Seoul also The Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) is an emerging became a member of the Convention Relating to the Distribution space-faring nation seeking to expand its space capabilities of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (Brussels 9 in the realms of science, communications, commerce, and Convention) in March 2012. national security affairs. The country has passed three important In contrast, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK space milestones: the launch of Korea’s first satellite, Kitsat-1 or North Korea) has signed the Outer Space Treaty and the (Uribyŏl-1) on 10 August 1992; manned space flight by Korea’s Registration Convention, but has not signed the Rescue first astronaut, Yi So-yeon (Yi So-yŏn), on 8 April 2008; and the Agreement, the Liability Convention, or the Moon Agreement. successful satellite launch with an indigenous Naro (KSLV-1) Pyongyang is a member of the Agreement on the Establishment of space launch vehicle (SLV) on 30 January 2013. the Intersputnik International System and Organization of Space 10 Korea now has ambitious plans to develop powerful space Communications. Both Koreas are members of the Agreement launchers, advanced satellites, lunar probes, and deep space Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite 11 exploration capabilities. Seoul’s space ambitions partially have Organization (ITSO), the Convention on the International 12 been driven by an inter-Korean space rivalry,1 but the two Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO), and the International 13 Korean space programs have significant differences.
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