Yoon appoints inaugural Korea AeroSpace Administration leadership
![From left, Yoon Young-bin, an aerospace engineering professor at Seoul National University, John Lee, former senior executive at NASA and Rho Kyung-won, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and ICT stand during a press briefing held at the presidential office on Wednesday. Yoon was appointed as the chief of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, slated to open on May 27, with Lee as deputy administrator and Rho as deputy chief by the president the same day. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/04/24/dcb4b0fb-66a0-43fd-b5a1-d18cff1656ec.jpg)
From left, Yoon Young-bin, an aerospace engineering professor at Seoul National University, John Lee, former senior executive at NASA and Rho Kyung-won, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and ICT stand during a press briefing held at the presidential office on Wednesday. Yoon was appointed as the chief of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, slated to open on May 27, with Lee as deputy administrator and Rho as deputy chief by the president the same day. [YONHAP]
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday appointed an aerospace engineering professor at Seoul National University (SNU) as the inaugural chief of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA).
Prof. Yoon Young-bin was appointed as the chief of KASA, Sung Tae-yoon, the director of national policy at the presidential office, said during a press briefing.
KASA is set to open on May 27 and will be the Korean version of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
“Yoon is a leading researcher in Korea on space propulsion systems and has participated in research on liquid rockets and gas turbine engines over the past 40 years. He has contributed to projects like the development of the space vehicle Naro,” Sung said.
The president also appointed John Lee, a former senior executive at NASA, as the administration’s deputy administrator. Rho Kyung-won, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and ICT, was named as KASA’s deputy chief.
According to the presidential office, Lee managed major space projects while working at NASA for 29 years. He also worked at the White House budget office.
Rho was the director-general in charge of launching Korea’s first domestically developed space rocket system, Naro, in 2013. He was also part of establishing KASA since last September while serving in the Science Ministry, Sung said.
President Yoon asked for "thorough preparation for the successful opening of the agency that will lead the country’s aerospace industry with top professionals in leadership," Sung said.
Launching KASA was one of Yoon’s key campaign pledges. The government aims to develop over 2,000 aerospace companies and generate 500,000 jobs through the establishment of the agency, with the goal of becoming one of the top five space powers globally by 2045.
BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)