한국항공우주연구원

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI, President Paik Hong-yul) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF, President James Zimmerman) signed the final contract for the hosting of the 60th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Daejeon, Korea.

At the signing ceremony, that took place on September 28 at the Korean booth of the 59th IAC in Glasgow, Daejeon, the IAC Local Organizing Committee Chairman Choi Heungsik attended on behalf of the Mayor of Daejeon along with other staff from the Local Organizing Committee and KARI.

Thanks to their rigorous efforts, KARI and Daejeon City won the right to host the IAC 2009 at the 2006 Spain IAC and signed the temporary contract during the 2007 India IAC to officially start the preparations for the IAC 2009. The signing of the final contract at the 2008 UK IAC came after working-level consultations regarding the specifics of the final draft.

The IAF promised its full-pledged support for the Daejeon IAC and included in the final contract its decision to allow a 50% discount in the registration fees for local participants.

The IAC is a festival for all those involved in the space field being held in a different country each year with some 3,000 people, including space agency heads, government officials, space experts, industry, students, and others, attending, making it the biggest space event in the world.

During this year’s IAC in the UK, KARI, Daejeon City, and the Daejeon IAC Local Organizing Committee set up a Korean Pavilion to introduce the Korean Culture and Korea’s preparation for the next IAC which includes diverse programs such as the Korean Night for the promotion of the Daejeon IAC. The Daejeon IAC Local Organizing Committee hopes to promote the international recognition of Korea’s space technology as well as Daejeon City by successfully hosting this international event, the Daejeon IAC.