posted 01-16-2008 01:01 AM               

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I'm trying to bring the soil of North and South Korea because our country is separated now, and we think of this as one country. I'm going to mix them up in space.

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posted 02-04-2008 07:40 PM               

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Seeds of 11 kinds of indigenous Korean plants such as Korea's national flower Mugungwha or Rose of Sharon, rice, peppers, and dandelions will also be sent to the ISS. The seeds will be kept at the space station for two months and brought back to Earth when the Korean astronaut returns home.

Scientists plan to germinate the seeds here on the Earth to study how the space environment affects the growth and mutation of plants.

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posted 02-22-2008 09:41 PM               

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A United Nations flag will make a historic round trip to the international space station this coming April, the Organization’s Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) announced today.

Upon its return to Earth, the banner will be presented to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before being taken to Vienna later this year to take a prominent place among the permanent items at the space exhibition at the International Centre in the Austrian capital.

It will fly to the station with astronaut Ko San of the Republic of Korea, who will be conducting scientific experiments at the orbiting facility for eight days.

The tradition of astronauts carrying the UN flag into outer space began during the earliest manned space missions. To date, the blue and white symbol has orbited the Earth, flown aboard space stations and reached the moon.

OOSA is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and the development and codification of international space law. There are currently five UN treaties governing outer space.

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posted 02-23-2008 07:32 PM               

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After South Korea began sending soldiers to fight beside American forces in Vietnam, President Park Chung-hee made an unusual plea. He wrote to President Lyndon Johnson to say that his troops were miserable, desperate for kimchi, the fermented cabbage dish that Koreans savor with almost every meal.

Chung Il-kwon, then the prime minister, delivered the letter to Washington. When he traveled overseas, he told Johnson, he longed for kimchi more than for his wife. The president acquiesced, financing the delivery of canned kimchi to the battlefield.

Now kimchi is set to conquer the final frontier: space.

When South Korea’s first astronaut, Ko San, blasts off April 8 aboard a Russian spaceship bound for the International Space Station, the beloved national dish will be on board.

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Mr. Ko, the Korean astronaut, said he would use the kimchi to foster cultural exchange. He plans to prepare a Korean dinner in the space station on April 12 to celebrate the 47th anniversary of the day the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

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