S. Korea, U.S. vow to strengthen space cooperation

Defense Minister Suh Wook met with the U.S. Space Command chief on Monday in Seoul and discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation in space and other defense fields, the defense ministry said.

Gen. James Dickinson is in South Korea to meet senior defense leaders here, according to officials. His detailed itinerary is not immediately available.

During the meeting, Suh and Dickinson noted cooperation in the space field that began in earnest in 2013, and shared the need to continue efforts together to maintain a strong deterrence and better deal with growing space threats, according to the ministry.

“The two sides discussed ways of cooperation to ensure safe space environments and to advance the Korea-U.S. alliance,” the ministry said. “They vowed to beef up bilateral space cooperation further down the road.”

Dickinson also met with South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and exchanged opinions on how to boost exchanges and cooperation between their organizations, the officials said.

Seoul and Washington have been working to strengthen their military and civilian space partnership.

President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden committed “to strengthening their partnership in civil space exploration, science and aeronautics research and will cooperate towards the ROK signing the Artemis Accords,” according to the joint statement released last week following their summit meeting.

The Artemis Accords are an international agreement among governments participating in the Artemis Program, a U.S.-led effort to return humans to the moon by 2024, and to ultimately expand and deepen space exploration.