Why Did Korea Join the Artemis Accords Late? [Reading Science]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] South Korea announced on the 27th that it will participate in the Artemis project, a U.S.-led lunar exploration plan. This is also a follow-up measure to the Korea-U.S. summit held on the 21st (U.S. time). Let's clarify one misconception and a question that has been raised.

◇ South Korea will not land on the moon

Contrary to common belief, South Korea will not directly participate in humanity's second manned lunar exploration scheduled for 2024. Although Artemis is well known as a lunar landing program, most preparations for the lunar landing, such as the selection of the lander, have already been completed. Astronaut selection and training are also in the final stages. Thirteen astronauts, including Korean-American doctor Johnny Kim, have been selected and are undergoing training, among whom six are women. The U.S. plans to land a pair of astronauts, one male and one female, on the moon. This is precisely why the project is named Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon. The U.S. has designated a female astronaut as the main protagonist of the Artemis program.

Therefore, South Korea will not play a direct role in humanity's second manned lunar landing in 2024. This means no Korean astronaut will land on the moon. However, South Korea is not doing nothing. It has already developed a camera to explore the permanently shadowed regions of the moon in cooperation with NASA, which will be onboard Korea's first lunar orbiter (KPLO) scheduled for launch in August next year. The images captured by this camera of the lunar polar regions will help select the landing site for the Artemis lander.

South Korea may also participate in long-term projects such as the Lunar Gateway, a kind of international space station to be installed in lunar orbit, and the construction of a lunar base planned through 2028. The U.S. plans to build a self-sustaining base by mining water and resources in the lunar polar regions, which will serve as a stopover for Mars exploration and be used for deep space development. To this end, it is developing the rover VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover). VIPER will be the first rover equipped with headlights to explore the permanently shadowed regions of the moon. It will be equipped with a 1-meter-long hammer drill to penetrate soil and explore ice and resources, a large spectrometer to observe lunar movements, a near-infrared water vapor detection system to confirm the presence of water, and a neutron detector. The production cost alone is $433.5 million, with an additional $226.5 million for transportation to the moon, totaling $760 million (approximately 850 billion KRW).

◇ Why the late membership?

The U.S. had already signed the Artemis Accords with seven countries last October. The list included the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan, but South Korea was not on the list and has now joined. What is the reason? Is it due to a lack of space technology? That does not make sense for South Korea, which has nearly completed its own space launch vehicle (Nuri) and has top-tier satellite manufacturing capabilities. For example, the United Arab Emirates, which is on the participant list, gained recognition with the successful Mars exploration orbiter in February but is a country that learned space technology from South Korea and is far behind in capability. Is it due to lack of funds? That is inconsistent with South Korea's economy and national budget, which rank in the top 10 worldwide. Moreover, considering that South Korea is already effectively participating in the Artemis project by playing the role of a scout searching for lunar landing sites and is a valuable partner of NASA, this is even more puzzling.

The issue is that the Artemis Accords are not just a simple manned lunar exploration project. Politically, they imply establishing a U.S.-led space development order excluding China and Russia. Since 2010, China has been promoting its 'space rise' and plans to establish its own space station, Tiangong, next year, competing with the U.S. With the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled to be decommissioned in 2024, Tiangong is likely to become a hub for international cooperation in space development, significantly elevating China's status. In fact, China clearly declared its independent path in space development by signing an agreement with Russia in March regarding the use of space stations and lunar bases.

To counter this, the U.S. has declared the exclusion of China from the Artemis Accords and is aligning its 'allies.' For South Korea, which depends economically on China and on the U.S. for security, having to choose between the two even in space development is a difficult situation.

In this context, the decision to join the Artemis Accords as a result of the recent Korea-U.S. summit is significant. The agreements reached by the two leaders are evaluated as a relatively clear indication that South Korea intends to side with the U.S. in the future global hegemony competition. One of these is participation in the Artemis Accords. It can be analyzed that South Korea, which had been struggling between U.S. pressure and China's overtures, has made a 'decision.' When asked about this, the Ministry of Science and ICT responded, "The decision to join was made after consultation with NASA regardless of other countries. The negotiation process is a diplomatic matter and cannot be disclosed."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.