A 28-year-old scientist has been selected as Korea's first man to go into space. After being chosen as one of the two finalists last December in an astronaut selection process that drew over 36,000 applicants, Ko San made the final cut. Ko is scheduled to board a Russian Soyuz Spacecraft in April 2008 for a 10-day sojourn in space, conducting scientific experiments on the International Space Station as a payload specialist. When Ko blasts off next April, Korea will become the 36th country to have its own astronaut go into space. It will also become only the 11th country to conduct scientific experiments in space. These achievements represent the early stages of the nation's ambitious space agenda.
Officials in South Korea have chosen a 30-year-old engineer to be the country's first citizen in space. Ko San, who works at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, will fly with two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station in 2008. He will spend seven or eight days there, conducting a series of scientific tests.