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 eff...

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 sta...

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. Short-haired Sapsarees are rare among the characteristically long-haired canine breed. Short hairs are born naturally at 1 percent possibility, and those with spotted fur are even rarer. Only around 600 Sapsarees exist in South Korea, with around 50 short-h...

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 ...

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 Pla...

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 governme...

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...

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. 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, o...

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 Ar...

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...

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. The rock...

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 maintaine...

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 photo...

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. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, could finalize a new launch date after completing its inspection of its two-stage rock...

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 per...