Gen. Lee Kye-hoon
Air Force Chief of Staff |
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Kye-hoon arrived in Beijing Thursday for talks with Chinese Air Force leaders on boosting cooperation in space development, the Air Force said.
During his visit, Lee will attend the Air Force Peace and Development Forum, where he will promote South Korea's indigenous T-50 and KT-1 trainer planes, it said in a news release.
Lee will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xu Qiliang, to exchange views on increasing bilateral cooperation in the training of astronauts, it said.
``China is active in space development, and we believe there are areas in which we can cooperate with China as we ourselves seek to step up space exploration,'' an Air Force spokesman said.
South Korea conducted its first-ever rocket launch on Aug. 25, but the two-stage rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit.
The spokesman said South Korea will increasingly need astronauts because the country is looking to bounce back from the launch, which was considered a half-success.
Lee will also meet his counterparts from Japan, Chile, Turkey and Spain, and visit a Chinese air base in Shandong Province, Monday.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
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