Asia's Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries, and International Risks by James Clay Moltz

Author:James Clay Moltz [Moltz, James Clay]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780231156882
Google: qDHzklHooiYC
Goodreads: 13149896
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-01-15T06:29:22+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

THE SOUTH KOREAN SPACE PROGRAM

Emerging from Dependency

Although China, India, and Japan have received the bulk of recent attention for their space developments, the emergence of the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) as a new player has arguably been even more dynamic over the past two decades. From having virtually no space capability, organizational structure, or overall plan as late as the early 1990s, South Korea has engaged in a major effort to enter the arena of spacefaring nations. As Doo Hwan Kim argues, “Korea is attempting to achieve fast-track development in the space race,” despite its late starting date.1 Although its strategy focused initially on purchases of foreign technology, the ROK has increasingly sought to develop independent capabilities as a satellite producer, space services provider, and space-launching country. In this sense, South Korea is finally emerging from its long dependency on the United States for space-derived information. But Seoul’s dual desire for both technological advancement and eventual autonomy has not prevented it from continuing to cooperate with the United States and with other countries to serve its purposes, including Russia, France, India, Israel, Japan, and even China.

In this regard, the ROK’s position within the Asian space world has been perhaps the most politically “balanced” among the developed programs. It has sought to maintain ties with a range of countries both to push its technology forward and to prevent its possible isolation. Perhaps this behavior stems from an uncertainty about which way to turn, toward China—its largest trading partner—or the United States, its main ally but a country that has denied it space and launcher technology for many years. These ties are now on the mend, but it is striking that Seoul only succeeded in reaching its first cooperative agreement with NASA in 2008, decades after similar U.S. arrangements with other allies (and even some adversaries, such as the Soviet Union/Russia). Still, in its current position, Seoul may represent a possible hub or “pivot”2 for the future development of broader regional space cooperation.

South Korea is a smaller country in terms of size, finances, and population than other major Asian spacefaring nations. Lacking the resources of a large power, it has adopted a more integrative strategy concerning its Asian neighbors. As the space politics analyst Wade Huntley observes, the larger space programs “tend to see the other important powers as rivals, if not adversaries,”3 whereas smaller countries like South Korea “look at the world differently.”4 For them, “the key is to develop relationships,”5 since they are less capable of going it alone in overcoming the high entry costs to entering the space field.

Developing a space program has represented a major national challenge for South Korea, a country that was forced to rebuild itself and its economy both after World War II and the Korean War. Seoul has pursued the goal of space activity with considerable state-led investment and the rousing of nationalism, as it has in other fields seen as critical by the government. Although its attempts to orbit

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