Today, most of the tools and equipment in people’s lives gain functionality thanks to space-based applications. Navigation systems, weather reports, banking activities, communications, data services and most conceivable applications depend on orbiting satellites. In addition to their functions in daily life, states collect intelligence, determine coordinates, obtain information about the defence capabilities of their opponents, and strengthen their hands with similar studies thanks to satellites.
Everett Dolman, who has academic studies on space, argues that the one who rules the orbits and regions in space can rule the world, the calculations based on gravity wells can benefit the state economically, and dominating the critical points can achieve dominance in world trade. Space studies occupy an important place in human life and in the strategies of governments and the advantages they provide cause states to want to be more active in space.[1]
The space orientation accelerated because of the competition between the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These two states, who wanted to show their superiority against each other during the Cold War, turned their eyes to space. As a result of the competition between the USA and the USSR, space has gained accessibility with the developing technology. With the advancing technology and information age, space studies did not remain only in space; it has become related to the economic, commercial, military, and social areas in the world. For this reason, many states began to be interested in space studies, which started with the USA and the USSR and took action to prepare space policies. One of these states is South Korea.
Unlike the space programs of the USA and the USSR that started in the late 1950s; South Korea’s interest in space technology began thirty years later. South Korea, which observed the economic growth of the states carrying out space studies in the 1980s, has the motivation to develop an economy based on science, technology, and innovation.[2]
After years of technological underdevelopment, the Seoul administration took its first step towards space studies by establishing the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in 1989. Those who want to make progress in the field of space; however, Seoul, which does not have the necessary technological competence, has cooperated with other states, especially the United Kingdom (UK) and the USA.[3]
In the 1990s, KARI began experiments in sounding-rocket technology and satellite technology.[4] In 1992, the country launched its first satellite, KISAT-1, and the satellite successfully reached orbit. This success was followed a year later by the launch of the first sounding rocket, the KSR-1. After these firsts, South Korea decided to expand its work in the field of satellites by developing the KOMPSAT program. In particular, the success of the first multi-purpose satellite, KOMPSAT-1, launched in 1999, has opened a new era of space-based remote sensing by fulfilling national and commercial demands for spatial data infrastructure.[5]
Alongside its space applications, South Korea has enacted some laws to put the space industry on a better footing. The Aerospace Industry Development Promotion Act of 1987, the Space Development Promotion Act of 2005 and the Space Damage Compensation Act of 2007 were enacted. These laws cover important space-related issues such as the use of satellite information, astronaut recovery, launch licensing, registration of space objects, third-party liability insurance, space accident containment and compensation for damage caused by space accidents.[6]
On November 28, 2022, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol once again revealed the country’s priority for space by announcing South Korea’s roadmap for space. Yoon Suk-yeol, who dreams of becoming a powerhouse in space, has revealed his will on this subject with his space policies. The goals in the space roadmap are; (1) going to the Moon in 2032, (2) sending a robotic vehicle to Mars in 2045, (3) doubling the government’s budget for space in five years, (4) Presidency of the President of the National Space Council, the highest decision-making body on space matters, (5) transfer of space technologies from the public to the private sector, (6) launching a funding program for space companies, (7) establishing a NASA-like national space agency, Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), and (8) strengthening space ties with the USA.[7]
As can be seen from South Korea’s space roadmap, the country still needs cooperation on technological development. Although space is a hard and costly field, it requires high technology and expertise. For this reason, it is much more advantageous and profitable for a country to carry out space studies in cooperation rather than conducting them alone. Cooperation for South Korea, besides being advantageous, is a factor in the strengthening of soft power diplomacy and the emergence of long-term alliances.[8]
Another point that draws attention in the space roadmap is that South Korea is no longer just in satellite technologies; it wants to show itself in the exploration of space by organizing missions to the Moon and Mars. With this initiative, South Korea is not only within the scope of communication and navigation services from space; reveals that it wants to take advantage of issues such as space mining, space economy and space geopolitics. It is possible to say that South Korea is eager to become an actor in space, considering the importance it attaches to space from the past to the present and its self-development over the years. In addition to space giant states such as the USA, Russia and China, South Korea sets an example for many states of its scale with its work in space.
[1] Neslihan Topcu, “Astropolitik: ABD, Rusya ve Çin’in Uzay Jeopolitiğindeki Yeri”, Uluslararası İlişkilerde Güvenlik ve Jeopolitik: Teorik Tartışmalar ve Güncel Gelişmeler, Metin Aksoy, ed., Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık, Ankara, 2022, p. 337.
[2] Stephanie Wan, “U.S. – South Korean Space Cooperation”, Secure World Foundation Report, 2010, p. 2.
[3] James Clay Moltz, “The KSLV I Launch and South Korea’s Space Strategy”, Council on Foreign Relations, 2012, p. 1.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Hyun-Ok Kim et al.., “Space-Based Earth Observation Activities in South Korea (Space Agencies)”, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, 2015, p.34
[6] Doo Hwan Kim, Space Law and Policy in the Republic of Korea, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, 2012, p.1-2
[7] “South Korean Leader Eyes “Landing on Moon in 2032, Mars in 2045”, Space News, https://spacenews.com/134853-2/, (Date of Access: 4.12.2022).
[8] Wan, op.cit., p. 3.
