S. Korea, US sign space cooperation agreement

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States on Wednesday signed an agreement on space cooperation to jointly explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The signing event was held during the opening ceremony of the second South Korea-US civil space dialogue that will last for three days in Seoul.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert officially inked the "Framework Agreement for Cooperation in Aeronautics and the Exploration and Use of Airspace and Outer Space for Civil and Peaceful Purposes."

South Korea became the first Asian country to sign such a pact on space cooperation with the United States. The pact is expected to take effect after parliamentary ratification.

Seoul and Washington began talks about space cooperation from 2010, and the talks got a boost when South Korean President Park Geun-hye and US President Barack Obama held a summit in October last year.

Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that the agreement stipulates the terms of future cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes and in areas of common interests that will speed up future cooperation in space exploration.