First South Korean astronaut to be a woman

The man intended to be the first South Korean in space has been grounded for violating security protocol and will be replaced by a female biotechnology engineer, the science ministry said on Monday.

Ko San, 31, was dropped from the top pick for the April 2008 flight on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and is now the backup for the mission after he removed sensitive training material from a Russian centre, the ministry said.

“The Russians emphasised the importance of abiding by the rules, as even small mistakes can bring about grave consequences in space,” an official told a news conference, adding Ko appeared to have made innocent mistakes.

Ko, a technology researcher and a bronze-medal winner in a 2004 national amateur boxing contest, is being replaced by Yi So-yeon, 29, who is finishing her doctorate.

Yi will serve as a payload specialist with two Russian cosmonauts for a seven- or eight-day mission to the International Space Station.

The two were selected from a list of more than 36,000 candidates.