S. Korea participates in UN space meeting

Ministry of Science and ICT (Yonhap)

SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) — South Korea is taking part in the first global United Nations space summit of the 21st century to discuss global cooperation in the future of space activities, the government said Wednesday.

The two-day meeting in Vienna, Austria is called UNISPACE+50, and will be attended by 84 member nations of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the Ministry of Science and ICT said. It said more than 100 international organizations will also be present at the gathering that runs through Thursday.

This year’s event is to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the first COPUOS and is the first meeting since the last event held in 1999, officials said.

The gathering, aimed at building a broader space community, will serve as an opportunity for the global community to discuss the future course of global space cooperation, officials said.

The UNISPACE+50 will include a symposium and high-level talks as well as exhibitions on the sidelines that will be open to the general public, the ministry said.

Jeong Byung-seon, a senior ICT official, will deliver a keynote speech to highlight the need to build up space technology to better serve humankind, the ICT ministry said.