South Korea's has achieved its first successful space flight with a rocket of partly
Russian design putting a satellite in orbit.
The launch mirrored one in December
by North Korea, which was widely seen as contravening a U.N. ban on weapons development.
Pyongyang
then declared it would carry out a nuclear test, creating further distance between
it and the incoming administration of South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye.
She
will be inaugurated as president in February and has pledged to increase spending
on science and technology to five percent of the nation's GDP.
Unlike the North,
South Korea is under no UN restrictions on rocket development.
The launch Wednesday
was widely welcomed across the country, with some observers saying South Korea could
soon sell space technology alongside its world-class electronics and cars.
And
for many South Koreans, a first successful launch was a welcome distraction, for once,
from the difficulties of living with North Korea.