Commentary Civil and Commercial Space Why Did South Korea Create a New Space Agency? PublishedNovember 8, 2024 By Jacob Bradley Download PDF On May 27, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the creation of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), which replaced the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) as the lead government organization for Korea’s space program and research activities.[i] KASA was created to reorganize disparate Korean agencies to foster greater efficiency and space innovation. Under KASA, Korea aimsto become a spacefaring juggernaut, not reliant on other nations’ infrastructure, and an independent producer of space technology. KASA aims to grow South Korea into one of the top five space-faring nations while also developing the peninsula’s aerospace sector into a main national industry.[ii] [i] Dennis Normile, “South Korea Launches Its Own NASA,” Science.org, May 27, 2024, https://www.science.org/content/article/south-korea-launches-its-own-nasa. [ii] “Vision & Goals,” KASA, 2024, https://kasa.go.kr/eng/web/content.do?menu_cd=000049.
