Korea-US space partnership embodies future of alliance, FM says

Space partnerships represent "the moonshot" or ambitious and groundbreaking goal of the Korea-U.S. alliance, Seoul's Foreign Minister Park Jin said, Monday, stressing that the cosmos is where the two countries' global, comprehensive and strategic partnerships converge.

Park made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a two-day space forum co-hosted by the ministry and the U.S. Department of State at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, which was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.

He also said the collaborative reach of the two countries has spread to outer space, after President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to expand the alliance to space during the Korean leader's state visit to Washington in April.

"So space is where the global comprehensive and strategic dimensions of our partnership converge," Park said. "And building a space alliance literally represents the moonshot of our alliance."

Park stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in handling the space agenda is increasing more than ever, because of emerging challenges that no single country or entity can tackle alone.

"Already, nearly 40,000 space debris poses serious collision risks to our critical space infrastructure, and competition for orbital paths, and the risks of technologies being misused are growing," Park said.

"Space is becoming increasingly militarized and weaponized. All of these are turning space into a giant geopolitical chessboard," he added.

To overcome those challanges, the foreign minister said the allies are fully committed to ensuring a safe, secure and sustainable environment for the benefit of all humankind, and will strengthen cooperation on the multilateral stage to establish norms, rules and principles for responsible space behavior.

In line with this view, the foreign minister noted that the leaders of Korea, the U.S. and Japan pledged to strengthen their conversations on space security during their trilateral summit at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat, in August, and representatives of the three countries will hold a space security dialogue on Wednesday.

In a joint statement issued at the Camp David Summit, Yoon, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold a "trilateral dialogue on space security cooperation, particularly regarding threats in the space domain, national space strategies, and the responsible use of space."

During the forum, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg highlighted Seoul's successful launch of the Nuri rocket and the Danuri lunar orbiter, and NASA's ShadowCam on board the Danuri providing valuable data to scientists in both countries.

"Our space cooperation is rooted in our shared values -- innovation, integrity and transparency -- and these bring benefits to both of our people," Goldberg said, citing the Yoon-Biden summit in April.

"We have committed to strengthening our space cooperation across all sectors, including space security, commerce, and civil space exploration."

Chirag Parikh, executive secretary of the White House National Space Council, said that the U.S. is seeking regional and global security through space cooperation, and sees the Korea-U.S. partnership as being essential for the expanding space economy. He also stressed that the two countries should make efforts to set up international rules for the peaceful and responsible use of space.

Following the opening ceremony, the forum featured a series of panel discussions involving policymakers and experts from the two countries to address topics such as the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, reducing space threats, space security and space exploration.

On the second day of the event, discussions will take place on cooperation in the space economy.