• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.207-223
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• 2008

The launching of the Taepo-dong 1 on 31 August 1998 by the North Korea was the first case where the diplomatic protests was made against the flight, the purpose of which, the launching State claimed, consisted in space exploration and use. It is the principle regarding the freedom of space exploration and use, as included in the international treaty, that is relevant in applying the various rules and in defining the legal status of the flight. Its legal status, however, was not actually taken into account, as political negotiations leading to the test moratorium has been successful until present day in freezing the political crisis. This implies that the rules of the law lack the validity and logic sufficient in dictating the conduct of the States. This case shows that, in effect, it is not the rule but the politics that is to govern the status of the flight.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.203-237
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• 2011

Since USSR successfully launched its satellite "Sputnik"in 1957, many countries including US and USSR began military use of space, and engaged in arms race in space, which is against spirit and ideals of peaceful use of space as common heritage of mankind stipulated in many treaties such as Outer Space Treaty. With worsening Cold War between East and Western Bloc, this military use of space and arms race in space has been intensifying. Regarding the ideals of peaceful use of space, it is interpreted that military use of space is possible unless it does not have the purpose of aggression. The military use of space may have diverse forms such as attacking satellites in space, or attacking from satellites, making use of present and future technologies available which should include the use of nuclear and kinetic/hyper-speed weapons, laser, particle beams, near explosion, disturbance weapons in different directions (i.e., surface to space, space to space, and space to surface). Arms control is being implemented by the efforts of many countries in different formalities including legislature of international treaties under the auspices of UNCOPUOS and prohibition of weapons of mass destruction. Taking outstanding examples aiming at arms control by international community, there are confidence building measures (CBM), strengthening implementation of existing treaties, partial ban of nuclear tests, countryand regional approach, comprehensive approach and measures having legally binding force. While U.S. has surpassed other countries concerned in the area of military useof space, it withdrew from OST in early 2000s, thereby raising concern of international community. It requires concerted efforts of cooperationand implementation by international society to make sure peace of mankind and environmental conservation through arms control in space. Observing de facto possession of nuclear weapons by North Korea following series of nuclear tests and launching satellites, and efforts of launching rockets by South Korea, it is strongly needed for both countries to take part in arms control efforts by international community.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.247-276
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• 2017

The protection of space asset has been new major cause of space militarization. For such purpose, it has been officially announced that a policy of deterring and denying any adversaries from accessing the outer space. Space militarization is to be conversed into a new concept of space weaponization. The USA has announced its policy of space weaponization, while China and Russia have not revealed their plan or policy. Latter States, however, have proposed a draft treaty limiting the deployment of warfare in the outer space. The terms of the Outer Space Treaty, reflecting three significant United Nations General Assembly resolutions from the 1960s, support the position that ground rules must be observed in the exploration and the use of outer space, particularly in the absence of specific space law rules. Yet the combination (and culmination) of these two approaches to the legal regulation of outer space-specific rules as and when agreed by the international community and the translation of principles developed for terrestrial regulation to outer space-still leaves much room for uncertainty and exploitation for military and strategic purposes. As space weaponization may contribute to deterring the use of weapon, it may be not against the UN Charter Article 2(4). If space weaponization might generate the space debris such that the outer space is no more available for exploration and use, it is against the proportionality principle and discrimination principle enshrined in the laws of the war. But, if the limitation upon the kind and use of space weaponization is agreed among the States, then the space weaponization may not be against the laws of the war, and be considered permissible within the rationale of limited war.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.261-284
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• 2018

The current international legal system does not provide a safeguard against the militarization and the weaponization of outer space. Although the term "peaceful use of outer space" in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty(OST) appears in official government statements or in multilateral space treaties, it is still without an authoritative definition in reviewing national practices. The ambiguous ban on weapons in Article IV of the OST allows countries to loophole on the deployment of other weapons other than nuclear weapons. Meanwhile "Draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapon in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects(PPWT)" to Conference on Disarmament (CD) commissioned by the UN General Assembly's Special Session jointly submitted by China and Russia in 2008 and later revised in 2014, attempting to define and prohibit the proliferation of weapons in outer space and provided definitions of prohibited weapons, are opposed by the US on the grounds that currently there is no arms race in outer space. Some experts support a hard law approach in which binding laws aimed at ultimately creating integrated and binding legal instruments in all aspects of the use of outer space should be adopted to regulate the military use of space. However as a temporary measure the soft law guidelines should be developed for the non liquiet, a situation where there is no applicable law. The soft law could be used to create support for the declaration of the treaties and to create international customary law. For example, the 1963 Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space that regulates the activities of the state in the exploration and use of the universe, and the 1992 Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space will illustrated. While substantial portions of the former was codified later in the 1967 OST, the latter which, although written in somewhat mandatory terms, have been consistently complied with by states, have arguably become part of customary international law. On November 12, 1974, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the development of international law may be reflected inter alia, by declarations and resolutions of the General Assembly which may to that extent be taken into consideration by the International Court of Justice.

• Proceedings of the Korean Information Science Society Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.337-339
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• 2002

현재 군사적, 상업적 또는 과학적 목적의 많은 인공위성들이 개발되고 있고, 실제로 이러한 목적의 인공위성들이 우주공간에서 각각의 맡은 임무를 수행하고 있다. 해양관측용 자료 및 10m급 해상도의 영상 자료를 제공해 주고 있는 다목적실용위성 1호의 경우, 자료 획득의 임무를 수행하기 위해 많은 내부적인 준비작업과 주변장치들을 필요로 하게 된다. 주변장치들도 각각의 역할을 수행하면서 필요한 정보를 다른 장치로부터 받기도 하고 다른 장치에 필요한 정보를 주기도하는 상호작용을 하게 된다. 또한 위성의 전체적인 상태나 구성하고 있는 주변장치들의 상태에 대한 정보를 지상의 관제소에서 계속적으로 점검해야 한다. 그러나 궤도를 돌고있는 위성은 관제소와 항상 정보를 주고받을 수는 없으므로 위성의 상태 데이터를 정해진 형식으로 저장해 두었다가 필요시 이를 지상에 보내줄 수 있어야 한다. 이와 같은 내부 장치들에 대한 하드웨어 데이터와 위성의 상태 데이터를 획득, 관리 및 저장하기 위한 프로그램이 다목적실용위성 2호에 탑재될 수 있도록 위성탑재 소프트웨어의 상세설계가 이루어 겼다. 이 설계된 프로그램을 이용하여 다목적실용위성 2호의 텔레메트리 데이터의 획득이 이루어질 것이며 현재 탑재 소프트웨어에 대한 검증이 수행되고 있다.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.259-294
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• 2013

After its experiment involving the exploding of a satellite in space in 2007, China proudly aired news on TV and ran articles in newspapers. However, the event was internationally criticized and drew widespread attention. Many countries denounced the explosion by pointing out that it could be part of the nation's plan to expand its military power to space or that it could pose a danger to the peaceful use of space. However, there is no talk of whether the experiment that produced a huge amount of space debris could have violated an international law, namely the Outer Space Treaty. Although space garbage has been said to be a serious problem, the amount is still on the increase. If we continue to launch new space launch vehicles into orbit at this rate, we will not be able to use it anytime soon like we do today. As the commercial use of space is likely to increase, the situation will certainly get worse. The international community is fully aware of the seriousness of the problem and working together to reduce the amount of space garbage. However, despite the fact that the United States and Soviet Union's ASAT(Anti-Satellite) programs have been implemented for a long time, there have been no complaints about them in terms of military expansion or breach of the Outer Space Treaty. Also, the recent Chinese test is largely viewed to be in accordance with international law. A lot of research has been undertaken with regard to the problem of space garbage. Now people's awareness of dangers being posed has been fully raised. Under the circumstances, the dismissing of China's satellite smashing, leaving a big mess in its wake, as nothing more than an experiment, is a red flag to, if not many, at least some people. By means of this thesis, I would like to review whether the Chinese test has violated an international space law. This thesis presents an overview of the issues surrounding the event and examines the possibility of violating the Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principle Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. After the China test, the UN Scientific and Technical Subcommittee first adopted space debris mitigation guidelines, I'll introduce the content of the guidelines and discuss the characteristics of the guidelines and what can be done to address the issue.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-54
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• 2007

Nuclear Power Sources(NPS) have been used since 1961 for the purpose of generating energy for space objects and have since then been recognized as particularly suited essential to some space operations. In January 1978 a malfuctioning Soviet nuclear powered satellite, Cosmos 954, re-entered the earth's atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over a wide area of the Canadian Northwest Territory. This incident provided some reasons to international legal scholars to make some principles to regulate using NPS in outer space. In 1992 General Assembly adopted "Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space". These NPS Principles set out certain legal and regulatory requirements on the use of nuclear and radioactive power sources for non-propulsive purposes. Although these principles, called 'soft laws', are not legal norms, they have much enfluences on state practices such as 1983 DBS Principles(Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting), 1986 RS Principles(Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Space) and 1996 Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interests of all States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries. As far as 1963 Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space is concerned the main points such as free use of outer space, non-appropriation of celestial bodies, application of international law to outer space etc. have become customary international law binding all states. NPS Principles might have similar characters according to states' willingness to respect them.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• no.spc
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• pp.35-58
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• 2007

Nuclear Power Sources(NPS) have been used since 1961 for the purpose of generating energy for space objects and have since then been recognized as particularly suited essential to some space operations. In January 1978 a malfuctioning Soviet nuclear powered satellite, Cosmos 954, re-entered the earth's atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over a wide area of the Canadian Northwest Territory. This incident provided some reasons to international legal scholars to make some principles to regulate using NPS in outer space. In 1992 General Assembly adopted "Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space". These NPS Principles set out certain legal and regulatory requirements on the use of nuclear and radioactive power sources for non-propulsive purposes. Although these principles, called 'soft laws', are not legal norms, they have much enfluences on state practices such as 1983 DBS Principles(Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting), 1986 RS Principles(Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Space) and 1996 Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interests of all States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries. As far as 1963 Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space is concerned the main points such as free use of outer space, non-appropriation of celestial bodies, application of international law to outer space etc. have become customary international law binding all states. NPS Principles might have similar characters according to states' willingness to respect them.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.153-194
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• 2009

The resources of outer space are for the common exploitation of mankind, and it is a common responsibility of mankind to protect the outer space environment. With the rapid development of space science and technology, and especially with the busy space activities of some major space powers, environmental contamination or space debris is steadily increasing in quantity and has brought grave potential threats and actual damage to the outer space environment and human activities in space. Especially We must mitigate and seek out a solution to remove space debris which poses a threat directly to man's exploitation and use of outer space activities in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO), through international cooperation and agreement in the fields of space science, economics, politics and law, in order to safeguard the life and property of mankind and protect the earth's environment. While the issue of space debris has been the subject of scientific study and discussion for some time now, it has yet to be fully addressed within the context of an international legal framework. During the earlier stages of the space age, which began in the late 1950s, the focus of international lawmakers and diplomats was the establishment of basic rules which sought to define the legal nature of outer space and set out the parameters for space activities and the nature and scope of activities carried out in outer space were quite limited. Consequently, environmental issues and the risks that might arise from the generation of space debris did not receive priority attention within the context of the development international space law. In recent years, however, the world has seen dramatic advances in technology and increases in the type and number of space-related activities which are being carried out. In addition, the number of actors in this field has exploded from two highly developed States to a vast array of different States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including private industry. Therefore, the number of artificial objects in the near-Earth space is continually increasing. As has been previously mentioned, COPUOS was the entity that created the existing five treaties, and five sets of legal Principles, which form the core of space law, and COPUOS is clearly the most appropriate entity to oversee the creation of this regulatory body for the outer space environmental problem. This idea has been proposed by various States and also at the ILA Conference in Buenos Aires. The ILA Conference in Buenos Aires produced an extensive proposal for such a regulatory regime, dealing with space debris issues in legal terms This article seeks to discuss the status of international law as it relates to outer space environmental problem and space debris and indicate a course of action which might be taken by the international community to develop a legal framework which can adequately cope with the complexity of issues that have recently been recognized. In Section Ⅱ,Ⅲ and IV of this article discuss the current status of international space law, and the extent to which some of the issues raised by earth and space environment are accounted for within the existing United Nations multilateral treaties. Section V and VI discuss the scope and nature of space debris issues as they emerged from the recent multi-year study carried out by the ILA, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ("COPUOS") as a prelude to the matters that will require the attention of international lawmakers in the future. Finally, analyzes the difficulties inherent in the future regulation and control of space debris and the activities to protect the earth's environment. and indicates a possible course of action which could well provide, at the least, a partial solution to this complex challenge.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.6_4
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• pp.1391-1401
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• 2019

The KOMPSAT-3A is a high-resolution optical satellite launched in 2015 by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). KOMPSAT-3A provides Panchromatic (PAN-0.55 m), Multispectral (MS-2.2 m), and Mid-wavelength infrared (MIR_OR-5.5 m) image. However, due to security or military problems, MIR_OR image with 5.5m spatial resolution are provided down sampled at 33 m spatial resolution (MIR_rd). In this study, we propose spatial sharpening method to improve the spatial resolution of MIR_rd image (33 m) using virtual High Frequency (HF) image and optimal fusion factor. Using MS image and MIR_rd image, we generated virtual high resolution (5.5 m) MIR_OR^fus image and then compared them to actual high-resolution MIR_OR image. The test results show that the proposed method merges the spatial resolution of MS image and the spectral information of MIR_rd image efficiently.