[FPSPACE] South Korea swaps first astronaut

[Luca Coren]

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7286989.stm

South Korea says its first astronaut will now be a female engineer, 
after Russian officials rejected the initial candidate over a breach of 
rules.

Yi So-yeon, 29, is to replace Ko San, 31, on a Russian flight to the 
International Space Station in April.

Russia's Federal Space Agency requested the change because Mr Ko broke 
training centre rules, a senior official said.

South Korean officials played down the breaches, which involved removing 
reading material from the centre.

On one occasion, Mr Ko sent a training book back to South Korea - 
something he said was by mistake.

On another, he received a book from a Russian colleague that he was not 
meant to read, said Lee Sang-mok of South Korea's Ministry of Education, 
Science and Technology.

[...]


Greetings,
Luca