spacetoday.net: First South Korean astronaut selected

First South Korean astronaut selected

Posted: Wed, Sep 5, 2007, 2:16 PM ET (1816 GMT)
The South Korean government has selected a computer engineer to be that nation's first astronaut. Ko San, a 30-year-old artificial intelligence and computer vision researcher, and former boxer, will fly to the International Space Station on a Soyuz taxi flight next April. Ko San beat out one other Korean, 29-year-old scientist Yi So-yeon, for the flight; the two had been picked as finalists by the government's Ministry of Science and Technology last December. The flight is part of an agreement between the governments of Russia and South Korea that also includes Russian help in the development of South Korea's first indigenous launch vehicle and a spaceport on the country's southern coast.