South Korea has announced that a 30-year-old robotics expert would be the country's first person in space when he flies on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station next year.
The Ministry of Science and Technology selected Ko San, who works at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said Vice Science Minister Chung Yoon.
Ko, who formerly did research on robots and artificial intelligence at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, beat out Yi Soo-yeon, a 29-year-old female mechanical engineer, following performance and other tests during training in Russia.
"Ko proved to be more comfortable communicating with the Russian cosmonauts and Ko, scored higher on performance and scientific experiment tests," Chung said.
Chung added, however, Ko, must continue to meet expectations or risk being replaced.
"We would like to make clear that the decision can be overturned should the selected astronaut at any time be deemed unsuited to fulfill the mission," Chung said.
Ko, who has a degree in mathematics from elite Seoul National University, will work on the International Space Station for about a week with two Russian cosmonauts in April, conducting scientific experiments.
Neither Ko nor Yi were present at the announcement as both were in Russia for training. - DDNEWS
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