South Korea plans to spend around 615.8 billion won ($516.5 million) on space development projects this year as the country gears up to launch its first domestically-built rocket and next generation satellites, the science ministry said Sunday. The investment is a 6.4-percent increase from 2019, with the earmarked budget to be focused on building up the country's capability to use space more effectively and bolster related industries, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Of the total

South Korea's geostationary environmental monitoring satellite has successfully reached its designated orbit around the Earth, the science ministry said Sunday. The Chollian-2B that blasted off atop the Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana on Feb. 18 (local time) is now in fixed orbit some 35,786 kilometers above the equator, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The 3.4-ton satellite stationed at 128.25 degrees longitude will undergo a full systems optimization process in the coming mo

A cloned dog of a native breed close to extinction, the Sapsaree, gave birth to puppies last year, and one of them became pregnant recently. According to professor Kim Min-kyu of Chungnam National University -- whose team conducted the genetic experiment -- on Tuesday, the cloned Sapsaree gave birth to seven puppies through artificial insemination last December. Two of the seven pups were short-haired.The cloned dog had its genes reproduced from a male short-haired badugi (meaning “spotted

BUSAN -- A special exhibition highlighting the rich ecology surrounding the Mekong region and various uses of the biological resources, such as in skin care and cosmetic products, commemorating the 1st Mekong-ROK Summit in Busan that opened Wednesday for a monthlong run. “Life on the Mekong; Connecting People, Creating a New Future,” held by the National Institute of Biological Resources, under the Ministry of Environment, kicked off Wednesday at Nurimaru APEC House in Busan on the s

South Korean astronomers have discovered an asteroid that could potentially collide with Earth, although the odds are extremely low, marking the first finding of a hazardous asteroid by the country's scientists, a state-run science institute said Tuesday. The potentially hazardous astroid (PHA), provisionally labeled 2018 PP29, earlier this month by the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center was discovered via orbital data collected from the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KM

South Korea will spend 300 billion won ($264 million) on developing three medium-sized next-generation satellites to improve the country's knowledge of space science and permit better management of agricultural resources and the environment, the science ministry said Sunday.The 2019-2025 plan approved by the National Space Committee calls for the private sector, with the support of the government, to place locally built, high performance satellites weighing around 500 kilograms into Earth's orbi

A hospital in Seoul said Wednesday it has successfully conducted South Korea's first simultaneous transplants of a liver from a donor with the same blood type and a kidney from another donor, with a different blood type, to a man in his 60s.In June this year, a team of doctors at Saint Mary's Hospital performed the transplantations to the man, who was suffering liver cirrhosis and chronic renal insufficiency. (Yonhap)The case, published on the website of the journal Transplantation Proceedings,

A South Korean taxi driver burned himself to death on Monday in protest at an Uber-like ride-sharing service being introduced by the country's largest mobile chat app, reports said.(Yonhap)South Korean taxi drivers have angrily protested against the car-pooling service created by KakaoTalk, saying it would threaten their jobs and livelihoods. US giant Uber has only a minimal presence in the country, offering only taxi- and licensed-hire vehicle hailing after closing its main ride-sharing service

South Korea's first indigenous geostationary weather satellite, the Chollian-2A, intended to enhance the country's weather monitoring system, successfully made initial contact with a ground station after blasting off from a space center in French Guiana, the government in Seoul said Wednesday.The multipurpose satellite, also known as GEO-KOMPSAT-2A, lifted off aboard a launch vehicle made by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Center at Kourou at 5:37 a.m., according to the Ministry of Science and

A small South Korean satellite designed to carry out space observation successfully reached its designated orbit after blasting off from an Air Force base in the United States, Seoul's science ministry said Tuesday.The Next Sat-1, which lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at around 10:34 a.m. Monday (local time) aboard the Falcon 9, made contact with ground stations, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.The 107-kilogram satellite, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- South Korea successfully tested its locally developed rocket engine on Wednesday, officials said, taking a step closer to the development of the country's first space launch vehicle.The test of the 75-ton thrust engine was conducted using a single-stage rocket that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 4:00 p.m. (Yonhap)The rocket engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, will be used on the

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- The engine burn time of South Korea's locally developed space rocket met its target goal, the government said Wednesday.The test of the 75-ton engine was conducted using a single-stage rocket that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 4:00 p.m.The Ministry of Science and ICT said the test-launch vehicle engine maintained combustion for 151 seconds with the rocket flying for 10 minutes after reaching a suborbital altitude o

POHANG, North Gyeongsang Province -- A group of South Korean scientists have developed an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy, called OR-PAM, to observe the process of cancer treatment.The team led by Kim Chul-hong of the Pohang University of Science and Technology used the OR-PAM system to evaluate the effectiveness of solid tumor drugs in the vascular system.The feasibility of photoacoustic microscopy has been the subject of many researchers in recent years as it can observe microvascu

South Korea said Monday that its new satellite launch has been delayed as American rocket company SpaceX extended its inspection of its Falcon 9.The launch date has been tentatively rescheduled to one of three days: Sunday, Monday or Dec. 1, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. (Yonhap)SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, could finalize a new launch date after completing its inspection of its two-stage rocket in one or two days, according to the ministry.The Falcon 9 had been scheduled to lift off at

South Korea said Wednesday that it has raised its budget for the basic science sector to 1.69 trillion won ($1.49 billion) next year as it vowed to focus on researcher-oriented research and development.The figures represented a 16.2 percent hike from the 1.45 trillion won allocated this year, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. South Korea's basic science sector accounted for 11.4 percent of the ministry's total budget next year.Ministers talk during a meeting on Nov. 14, 2018, to disc