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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Korean Astronaut Program | 1/1 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Astronaut_Program | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:19:56.295744+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Korean Astronaut Program (Korean: 한국 우주인 배출 사업) was an initiative by the South Korean government to send the first Korean into space via the Russian space program. A ten-day flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with astronaut Yi So-yeon occurred in 2008.
== First astronaut class ==
On December 25, 2006, two candidates—one woman and one man—were selected by South Korea during a ceremony held at SBS television center in Dungchon-dong, Seoul. This choice was the result of a comprehensive selection process which started with the screening of 36,000 applications.
Ko San (36, male, unmarried, researcher at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) Yi So-yeon (34, female, unmarried, researcher at the KAIST)
=== Other finalists === The eight other finalists were:
Park Ji-young (23, female, master's course student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) Yun Seok-oh (29, male, unmarried, official at Hanyang University) Lee Jin-young (36, male, married, squadron leader at Republic of Korea Air Force) Jang Joon-sung (25, male, unmarried, lieutenant at Bucheon Nambu Police Station) Ryu Jeong-won (33, male, married, chief technology officer at IT Magic Co.) Lee Han-gyu (33, male, unmarried, researcher at Samsung SDI) Choi Ah-jeong (24, female, unmarried, master's course student at Seoul National University) Kim Young-min (33, male, married, researcher at Korea Basic Science Institute)
=== First space mission === The winning pair was sent to Russia in early 2007 to undergo a 15-month training course at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow. On September 5, 2007, Ko San was named as the prime candidate, whilst Yi So-yeon served as his backup. However, on March 10, 2008, it was announced that the prime candidate would be changed to Yi So-yeon due to several violations of training protocol by Ko San. Ko San served as backup. On April 8, 2008 Yi So-yeon took off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 11:16 GMT aboard Soyuz TMA-12. She spent ten days conducting scientific experiments aboard the International Space Station. It cost South Korea approximately 26 billion won (US$28 million) to pay for the training and spaceflight.
=== Post-first mission === In 2014, Yi So-yeon resigned from the program to pursue an MBA, which was incompatible with continuing as an astronaut.
== References ==
== External links == The Korean astronaut program