S. Korea, US discuss space cooperation

Senior officials from South Korea and the United States discussed cooperation in space exploration as Seoul pushes ahead with the establishment of its independent space agency in May, officials said Monday.

First Vice Science Minister Cho Seong-kyung met with Pam Melroy, the deputy administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, during her visit to the US last week and discussed measures to expand space cooperation between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The ministry said the two sides have agreed to look into measures to apply South Korea's mobility, secondary battery, fifth-generation network, self-driving and nuclear technologies in space exploration projects, such as a moon crawler and the construction of a communications network on the moon.

Cho and Melroy have also agreed to discover practical research items for South Korea's participation in the US' Artemis moon exploration program, the ministry said.

South Korea is set to launch its full-fledged space agency, named the Korea AeroSpace Administration, in May. (Yonhap)