Four kinds of Korean food have been approved for consumption by astronauts in space.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday that Russia’s Institute for Biomedical Problems approved four traditional Korean foods for astronauts.

The dishes, which should be radioactive-processed for astronauts, include the marinated meat “bulgogi,” the rice and vegetable medley “bibimbap,” the seaweed soup “miyeokguk” and mulberry juice.

The Russian institute noted the effectiveness of those dishes in improving digestion.

The new approval has raised the number of Korean foods approved for space to 14, including a dried soup of traditional Korean bean paste.

The nation’s first astronaut Yi Soyeon brought four kinds of Korean food --- ramyeon, kimchi, raw cereal bars and the traditional cinnamon juice “sujeonggwa” --- with her when she went into space in April 2008.

The Russian institute and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration are the world’s only agencies that approve space food.