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Pres. Park to have video call with ISS astronaut during her US visit

Pres. Park to have video call with ISS astronaut during her US visit

Posted October. 13, 2015 07:25,   

한국어

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is flying to the U.S. on Tuesday afternoon to have a summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington D.C., which will take place on Friday. During the talks, which is her fourth summit meeting since her inauguration, President Park is expected to reaffirm the strong ties of Korea-U.S alliance and their close coordination towards North Korea and discuss measures with President Obama to expand the scope of the two nations’ cooperation into new areas (new frontiers), such as space, biotechnologies and energy.

There are a few aspects differentiating the upcoming visit of President Park from the visits that her predecessors. One of them is space cooperation. On Wednesday, President Park is scheduled to visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. It appears that the visit is aimed to expand and advance the scope of U.S.-Korea alliance into space cooperation.

It has been reported that Park will make a video call with the astronauts stationed at the ISS. According to diplomatic sources in the U.S. on Monday, President Park will have a video call with one of the six astronauts staying in the ISS.

Two Americans, three Russians, and one Japanese astronaut are stationing in the ISS. It is reported that President Park will most likely have the call with the American captain, who has been living in space for 199 days, as of Monday. “The video call is a gesture on the part of the U.S. government to welcome President Park’s deep interest in space cooperation,” the sources said.



mhpark@donga.com