By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee 

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with visiting U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen U.S.-ROK space cooperation on July 16.

Recalling that the leaders of the two countries decided to expand the U.S.-ROK alliance to all areas of space during their state visit in April last year on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK alliance, Minister Cho emphasized that bilateral space cooperation based on the U.S.-ROK alliance is the core of Korea's space diplomacy, and that cooperation with NASA is very important. 

In particular, he expressed his expectation for active cooperation between the Korean AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and the U.S. space agency as KASA was launched in May of this year, and expressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will actively support KASA's activities and lead the U.S.-Korea space cooperation together.

Noting that space has a variety of implications, including security, technology, and economics, Melroy emphasized that the Republic of Korea, which shares the values of transparency and democracy, is an important U.S. partner in space cooperation and looks forward to continuing to work with the Asian space powerhouse in areas such as satellite development and space observation.

Cho noted that South Korea has set a goal of landing a lunar rover in 2032 and exploring Mars in 2045, and hopes to contribute to the success of NASA's lunar exploration project, the Artemis program, as it moves forward.

Melroy noted that South Korean companies have world-class technology in various fields, including robotics, transportation, and communications, and that the potential for bilateral cooperation is high.

The two sides agreed to continue to make efforts to strengthen cooperation in the space sector through bilateral consultative bodies such as the U.S.-ROK Space Security Dialogue and the U.S.-ROK Civil Space Dialogue, based on the U.S.-ROK Space Cooperation Agreement (2016).