South Korea's first astronaut aims to mix soil from either side of the 38th parallel onboard the International Space Station to symbolize the union between people in his country and North Korea.Ko San, 31, will become the first South Korean to fly in space when he is ferried up to the outpost with two Russian cosmonauts after launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in April.
An artificial intelligence expert chosen from a field of 36,000 applicants by the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology, Ko plans to conduct 18 experiments during a 10-day round trip to the station.
He is flying under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency and hopes to bring some of the land he loves along with him.
"I'm trying to bring the soil of North and South Korea because our country is separated now, and we think of this as one country," Ko told reporters in a news conference today. "I'm going to mix them up in space."
He also intends to bring along kimchee -- a much-loved national dish of spicy fermented cabbage -- and other Korean food to eat with his cosmonaut colleagues and American astronauts on the outpost.
Ko and another finalist for the trip -- Yi So yeon, a 29-year-old female mechanical engineer -- both trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow for 15 months.
Ko, a researcher at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, was selected to fly the mission last September.
"I think I was not the best (astronaut candidate) but I was the luckiest one," Ko said. "I think I'm so blessed and I'll do my best not just for myself but for my country."
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