By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Ko San, a Korean astronaut candidate, will tie the knot on Dec. 20.
The 32-year-old will marry his longtime girlfriend at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts with Sungkonghoe University professor Shin Young-bok officiating the wedding, according to Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
The bride, Park Hye-jin, was Ko's schoolmate at Seoul National University's mathematics department and is studying in the U.S. for her doctorate. Park, who has been in astronaut clubs since her high school days, encouraged Ko to apply for the astronaut position.
Ko said in a recent interview that they have shared a lot and he is 200 percent happy with their wedding.
Ko was originally selected as Korea's first astronaut last September but was replaced by backup Yi So-yoen March this year, about a month before the launch of the mission to the International Space Station, allegedly because he tried to send home classified documents.
He currently works at KARI as a senior researcher, giving lectures about science and is engaged in a project to develop manned spaceships with Korean technology.