The Ministry of Science and Technology is set to channel efforts into upgrading South Korea's space technology starting this year.

Science Minister Oh Myung briefed President Roh on Friday that 2005 would mark the beginning of major efforts to develop various space-related projects. For a start, he said the government will exert its best efforts to successfully launch the Arirang No.2 satellite in November.

Minister Oh, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister, also said his ministry would install a special course at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in September to foster 1,000 experts in the field of next-generation automobiles. The project is to serve as a test case of introducing new education models of industry-university collaboration tailored to specific fields.

The government's ambitious 'Space Korea' project includes a plan to sharpen the country's science competitiveness to 16th in the world and technological competitiveness to the world's 8th.