Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho, who is also the Minister of Education, said on the 27th, "Aerospace is a cutting-edge core industry that determines national competitiveness beyond science and technology, and is a significant investment for the economy and future generations."
The acting minister made this remark while attending the '1st Day of Aerospace' ceremony held at the Korea Aerospace Agency in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, earlier that day.
He noted, "One year ago today, the Korea Aerospace Agency launched vigorously with the hopes of the people for Korea to become one of the top five aerospace powers in the world," and added, "I express my deep gratitude and respect to everyone in the aerospace community who has led the innovation and development of Korean aerospace by independently developing satellites and launch vehicles as the seventh nation in the world."
He also mentioned, "I consider it a great honor personally that the Nuri rocket and next-generation medium satellite development projects I planned as Minister of Education, Science and Technology over a decade ago have borne fruit and contributed to the development of Korean aerospace."
Furthermore, he stated, "I believe we must realize the potential of the universe through added value and resources that could not be dreamed of in existing industries, and that we need to infinitely expand Korea's space economy toward the Moon, Mars, and deep space, which we have envisioned."
He added, "To this end, we will strengthen the cooperative ecosystem of academia, industry, and government to realize the New Space era and enhance the cultivation of talents and research and development (R&D) innovation, ensuring organic linkage and cooperation among universities, research institutions, public agencies, and industrial sites for continuous development in the aerospace sector."
The acting minister also stated, "The government will generously support the challenges for the future of Korean aerospace centered around the Korea Aerospace Agency, actively nurturing the industry through the aerospace cluster, and leading the development of new aerospace global standards by developing core leading technologies such as reusable launch vehicles and ultra-high-resolution satellites."