S.Korea plans to launch its own version of NASA this year

South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday passed a bill on the launch this year of the nation's own version of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.

The bill on the new space agency was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Yoon Suk Yeol at the Office of the President in Seoul.

The bill covers the agency's establishment as a central administrative body in charge of aerospace policy, research and development, and industrial advancement.

"The national space agency will be a model of innovation as an expertise-based and flexible organization." President Yoon said. "As president, I will directly take charge as the agency's head to carefully run the nation's highest policy coordinating body for space development combining the capacities of the public and private sectors."

The bill will undergo the legislative process at the National Assembly. The amendment to the Space Development Promotion Act placing the agency under the Office of the President will proceed separately regardless of the date of the body's launch.

Write to Hyeong-Ju Oh at ohj@hankyung.com