The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute have announced the final ten Korean astronaut candidates.

Among the candidates, five are in their 20s and another five are in their 30s. The youngest is Park Ji-young, a 23-year-old graduate student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The oldest is 36-year-old Air Force Major Lee Jin-young.

The ten will undergo screening tests at a Russian astronaut training center starting from next week. The ten will be reduced to two on December 25th.

The two will undergo training at Russia’s Gagarin Space Center starting next March. Only one will become the first Korean astronaut to board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2008.