Ousted Ko San Says He Is Sorry
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Ko San, who was recently removed from priority status as Korea's first astronaut, said Tuesday that he was sorry about the incidents leading to him being withdrawn from the mission to fly to the International Space Station.
``It's my fault and I feel so sorry about it,'' Ko said in an email to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.
The 31-year-old technology researcher was originally selected as the first Korean astronaut and received training at the Russian space center.
But he was replaced by back-up candidate Yi So-yeon on Monday after he repeatedly broke training protocol by taking sensitive training material outside the center.
``I tried hard not to be a disgraceful astronaut, but unfortunately, I think I crossed the line set by the Russians,'' he said.
Disappointed, he hoped that Yi will be a successful replacement who can make his dream come true for him.
Ko, however, will continue training at the center as Yi's backup without being penalized.
Yi was surprised by the unexpected news but she vowed to do her best to replace Ko successfully.
``It's an unexpected mission and I was surprised. But it part of the mission is for me to cope with this kind of situation as an astronaut,'' Yi said.
Under the change, Yi will fly on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS as a payload specialist with two Russian cosmonauts for a seven- or eight-day mission. She is scheduled to return to earth around April 19.