• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.237-269
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• 2016

Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) is the only intergovernmental space cooperation organization in Asia. Since its establishment to date, eight countries have signed the convention and become member states. South Korea participated actively in the preparatory phase of creating the organization, and one conference organized by AP-MCSTA which is the predecessor of APSCO was held in South Korea. However, after the APSCO Convention was opened for signature in 2005 to date, South Korea does not ratify the Convention and become a member. The rapid development of space commercialization and privatization, as well as the fastest growing commercial space market in Asia, provides opportunities for Asian countries to cooperate with each other in relevant space fields. And to participate in the existing cooperation framework (e.g., the APSCO) by the Asian space countries (e.g., South Korea) could be a proper choice. Even if the essential cooperation in particular space fields is challenging, joint space programs among different Asian countries for dealing with the common events can be initiated at the first steps. Since APSCO has learned the successful legal arrangements from ESA, the legal measures established by its Convention are believed to be qualified to ensure the achievement of benefits of different member states. For example, the regulation of the "fair return" principle confirms that the return of interests from the relevant programs is in proportion to the member's investment in the programs. Moreover, the distinguish of basic and optional activities intends to authorize the freedom of the members to choose programs to participate. And for the voting procedure, the acceptance of the "consensus" by the Council is in favor of protecting the member's interest when making decisions. However, political factors that are potential to block the participation of South Korea in APSCO are difficult to be ignored. A recent event is an announcement of deploying THAAD by South Korea, which causes tension between South Korea and China. The cooperation between these two states in space activities will be influenced. A long-standing barrier is that China acts as a non-member of the main international export control mechanism, i.e., the MTCR. The U.S takes this fact as the main reason to prevent South Korea to cooperate with China in developing space programs. Although the political factors that will block the participation of South Korea in APSCO are not easy to removed shortly, legal measures can be taken to reduce the political influence. More specifically, APSCO is recommended to ensure the achievement of commercial interests of different cooperation programs by regulating precisely the implementation of the "fair return" principle. Furthermore, APSCO is also suggested to contribute to managing the common regional events by sharing satellite data. And it is anticipated that these measures can effectively response the requirements of the rapid development of space commercialization and the increasing common needs of Asia, thereby to provide a platform for the further cooperation. In addition, in order to directly reduce the political influence, two legal measures are necessary to be taken: Firstly, to clarify the rights and responsibilities of the host state (i.e., China) as providing assistance, coordination and services to the management of the Organization to release the worries of the other member states that the host state will control the Organization's activities. And secondly, to illustrate that the cooperation in APSCO is for the non-military purpose (a narrow sense of "peaceful purpose") to reduce the political concerns. Regional cooperation in Asia regarding space affairs is considered to be a general trend in the future, so if the participation of South Korea in APSCO can be finally proved to be feasible, there will be an opportunity to discuss the creation of a comprehensive institutionalized framework for space cooperation in Asia.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.83-109
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• 2008

According to 1944 Chicago Convention aircraft are classified into public aircraft(or state aircraft) and private aircraft(or civil aircraft). However even if public aircraft owned by government are used as commercial flights, those are classified into private aircraft. But as far as space activities are concerned in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, those are related to all activities and all space objects, thus there being no differentiation between the public spacecraft and private spacecraft. As for the institutions of air law there are ICAO, IATA, ECAC, AFCAC, ACAC, LACAC in the world. However in the field of space law there is no International Civil Space Organization like ICAO. There is only COPUOS in the United Nations. The particular institutions such as INTELSAT, INMARSAT, ITU, WIPO, ESA, ARABSAT would be helpful to space law field. In the near future there is a need to establish International Civil Space Organization to cover problems rising from all space activities. According to article 1 of the 1944 Chicago Convention the contracting States recognize that every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory. It means that absolute airspace sovereignty is recognized by not only the treaty law and but also customary law which regulates non-contracting States to the treaty. However as for the space law in the article n of the 1967 Space Treaty outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. It creates res extra commercium like the legal status of high seas in the law of the sea. However the 1979 Moon Agreement proclaimed Common Heritage of Mankind as far as the legal status of the outer space is concerned which is like the legal status of deep sea-bed in the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea. As far as the liabilities of air transport system are concerned there are two kinds. One is the liabilities to passenger on board aircraft and the other is the liabilities to the third person or thing on the ground by the aircraft. The former is regulated by the Warsaw System, the latter by the Rome Convention. As for the liabilities of space law the 1972 Liability Convention applies. The Rome Convention and 1972 Liability Convention stipulate absolute liability. In the field of space transportation there would be new liability system to regulate the space passengers on board spacecraft like Warsaw System in the air transportation.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.161-198
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• 2014

The idea of creating an International Space Exploitation Agency (tentative title: hereinafter referred to ISEA) is only my academic and theoretical opinion. It is necessary for us to establish ISEA as an international organization for the efficient and rapid exploitation of natural resources in the moon and other celestial bodies. The creation of ISEA as a new international organization is based on the Article 11, 5 and Article 18 of the 1979 Moon Agreement. In order to create it as a preliminary procedure, it needs to make the Draft for the Convention on the Establishment an ISEA among the space-faring countries. The main contents of this paper is composed of (1) introduction, (2) joint exploitation of the natural resources (Heliumn-3, etc.) in the moon and ISEA, (3) activities for the exploitation of moon and other celestial bodies by the space-faring powers, (4) legal problems and Solution for the exploitation and mining rights of the natural resources in the moon, mars and celestial bodies, (5) procedure of creating an ISEA, (6) the principal points that need to be included in the draft for the ISEA convention, (7) conclusion. The creation of an ISEA would lead to a strengthening of the cooperation among the States deemed essential by the global community towards joint undertakings in space and would act as a catalyst for the efforts on the exploitation of the natural resources moon, mars, Venus, Mercury and other celestial bodies and allow resources, technology, manpower and finances to be centrally managed in an independent fashion to the benefit of the space-faring countries. It is desirable and necessary for us to create ISEA in order to promote cooperation in the field of space policy, law, science technology and industry etc. among the space-faring countries. The creation of the ISEA will be promoted the international cooperation among the space-faring countries in exploration and exploitations of the natural resources in the moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury and other celestial bodies. Finally, it should be noted that the political drive will be necessary not only to set up the organization ISEA, but also study a subsequent measures. It is also necessary for us to create the ISEA in order to develop the space industry, to strengthen friendly relations and to promote research cooperation among the space-faring countries based on the new ideology and creative ideas. If the heads (president or prime minister) of the space super-powers including the UNCOPUOS will be agreed to establish ISEA at a summit conference, 1 believe that it is possible to establish an ISEA in the near future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.1
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• pp.7-19
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• 2012

After having announced legislation for threatened or endangered species on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants in 2005, the Korea Ministry of Environment proposed (in June 2011) amending the list, thereby delisting or reclassifying endangered species using new quantitative criteria for two levels (I and II), as well as status reviews. The new legislation included 40 species remained in their original endangered status, but 19 species were delisted, 5 species were proposed as candidates for delisting, 29 species were given a new endangered listing, and 3 species were proposed for an endangered listing in Korea. We assessed the threatened status of 98 plants using the IUCN Red List Criteria (version 3.1) at the global level, and compared the Ministry's revised criteria with the IUCN Red List Criteria and ESA criteria used in the USA. Most species proposed by the Ministry do not qualify as threatened and one of the major difficulties found in applying IUCN Red List Criteria at the global scale was a lack of knowledge on the status of species at broader geographic scales and the perceived difficulty this causes. Under the current classification process, many endangered species, such as Abeliophyllum distichum, Leontice microrhyncha, Echinosophora koreensis, Leontopodium coreanum, Iris odaesanensis, and Corylopsis coreana at global level were excluded here. Knowledge gaps and uncertainties mean that the number of taxa at high risk of extinction may be substantially greater than is currently understood. Due to a lack of information on its taxonomic status, currently there is controversy over the Red List status of Physocarpus insularis. Also, Caragana koreana, which was an invalidly published name, should be excluded here. Although the Korea Ministry of Environment insisted this procedure was conducted by applying the modified IUCN threat categories and definitions, this evaluation has been carried out based only on subjective views and misapplication of the IUCN Red List Criteria. The current listings by the Korea Ministry of Environment should be challenged. We suggest that broad species concepts on endemic species are applied and also criteria that adequately address the proper quantitative knowledge should be used. It is suggested that the highest priorities for the Red List should be given to endemic species at least in the Korean peninsula first at global scale.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_2
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• pp.1245-1257
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• 2021

GOCI-II, succeeding the mission of GOCI, was launched in February 2020 and has been in regular operation since October 2020. Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) processes and produces in real time Level-1B and 26 Level-2 outputs, which then are provided by Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency (KHOA). We introduced current status of regular GOCI-II operation and showed future improvement. Basic GOCI-II products including chlorophyll-a, total suspended materials, and colored dissolved organic matter concentration, are induced by OC4 and YOC algorithms, which were described in detail. For the full disk (FD), imaging schedule was established considering solar zenith angle and sun glint during the in-orbital test, but improved by further considering satellite zenith angle. The number of slots satisfying the condition 'Best Ocean' significantly increased from 15 to 78. GOCI-II calibration requirements were presented based on that by European Space Agency (ESA) and candidate fixed locations for calibrating local observation area were. The quality management of FD uses research ships and overseas bases of KIOST, but it is necessary to establish an international calibration/validation network. These results are expected to enhance the understanding of users for output processing and help establish detailed plans for future quality management tasks.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.543-557
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• 2021

Because aerosols have different spectral characteristics according to the size and composition of the particle and to the satellite sensors, a comparative analysis of aerosol products from various satellite sensors is required. In South Korea, however, a comprehensive study for the comparison of various official satellite AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) products for a long period is not easily found. In this paper, we aimed to assess the performance of the AOD products from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), Himawari-8, and Sentinel-3 by referring to the AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) sun photometer observations for the period between January 2015 and December 2019. Seasonal and geographical characteristics of the accuracy of satellite AOD were also analyzed. The MODIS products, which were accumulated for a long time and optimized by the new MAIAC (Multiangle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction) algorithm, showed the best accuracy (CC=0.836) and were followed by the products from VIIRS and Himawari-8. On the other hand, Sentinel-3 AOD did not appear to have a good quality because it was recently launched and not sufficiently optimized yet, according to ESA (European Space Agency). The AOD of MODIS, VIIRS, and Himawari-8 did not show a significant difference in accuracy according to season and to urban vs. non-urban regions, but the mixed pixel problem was partly found in a few coastal regions. Because AOD is an essential component for atmospheric correction, the result of this study can be a reference to the future work for the atmospheric correction for the Korean CAS (Compact Advanced Satellite) series.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.313-374
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• 2020

The idea of creating a new International Space Agency (ISA) is only my academic and practical opinion. It is necessary for us to establish ISA as an international organization for the efficient and rapid exploitation of natural resources in the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies. The establishment of ISA as a new international regime is based on the Article 11, 5 and Article 18 of the 1979 Moon Agreement. In order to establish as a preliminary procedure, it needs to make a "Draft for the Convention on the Establishment of an International Space Agency" among the space-faring countries. In this paper, I was examined the domestic space legislation in the United States, Luxembourg, European Space Agency, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea as well as space exploration and planning of the moons, Mars, Asteroids, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Titan and Other Celestial Bodies. The creation of an ISA would lead to a strengthening of the cooperation needed essentially by the developed countries towards joint and cooperative undertakings in space and would act as a catalyst for the space exploration and exploitation of the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies. It will be managed effectively and centrally the exploitation and exploitation of space the natural resources, technology, manpower and finances as an independent organization in order to get the benefit of the space developed countries by ISA. It is desirable and necessary for us to establish ISA in order to promote cooperation in space policy, law, science technology and industry among the space developed countries in the near future. The establishment of the ISA will be promoted the international cooperation among the space-faring countries in exploration and exploitations of the natural resources in the moon and other celestial bodies. I would propose the "Draft for the Convention for the Establishment of an International Space Agency." in refering the "Convention for the Establishment of a European Space Agency." This "Draft for the Convention Convention for the Establishment of an ISA" must pass the abovementioned "Draft for the Convention" by two-third majority of Diplomatic Conference in the UNCOPUOS. Finally, a very important point is need that a political drive at the highest level and a solemn statement by heads of state of the space devloped countries including the United Nations for the space exploitation of the medium and long term. It should be noted that this political drive will be necessary not only to set up the organization, but also during a subsequent period. It is desirable and necessary for us to establish the ISA in order to develop the space industry, to strengthen friendly relations and to promote research cooperation among the space-faring countries based on the new ideology and creative ideas. If the heads of the superpowers including the United Nations will be agreed to establish ISA at a summit conference, 1 am sure that it is possible to establish an ISA in the near future.