Governor Park Wansu of Gyeongnam Launches Solo Protest: "Pass the Space Aviation Agency Special Act"

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, held a one-person protest in front of the National Assembly on the 1st, urging the prompt passage of the Special Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Space Aviation Agency.

Governor Park stood in front of the National Assembly holding a placard that read, "All issues regarding the Space Aviation Agency have been resolved, National Assembly must pass the Space Aviation Agency Act within the November regular session."

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is holding a solo protest in front of the National Assembly urging the prompt passage of the Special Act on the Space Aviation Agency.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

“I have visited the National Assembly several times to meet with the floor leaders of both parties and the ranking members of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee to demand the prompt enactment of the Space Aviation Agency Act and to convey the wishes of the residents,” he said. “Both ruling and opposition parties have pledged to actively cooperate in passing the special act, but it is very regrettable that the bill has not even passed the standing committee yet.”

Afterwards, Governor Park held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office.

He said, “All disagreements regarding the special act for the Space Aviation Agency have been resolved. Now, above all, only the swift enactment of the special act remains.”

He earnestly requested the National Assembly to pass the Space Aviation Agency special act so that 2024 can become a new starting point in the history of Korea’s space endeavors, urging once again the prompt review and approval of the bill by the National Assembly.

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office urging the prompt passage of the Special Act on the Space Aviation Agency.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

According to Gyeongnam Province, the Space Aviation Agency special act, submitted to the National Assembly last April, has yet to pass due to conflicts and disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties.

The National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee formed an agenda coordination committee and aimed to decide on the bill’s passage by last September. However, despite reaching agreements on major issues such as the status of the Space Aviation Agency and the reduction of transitional provisions in the bill, the final agreement failed as no conclusion was reached on granting research and development functions to the Space Aviation Agency.

At that time, the opposition party expressed concerns that if the Space Aviation Agency were to conduct research and development, the functions of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute in Daejeon would be diminished.

Gyeongnam Province recently claimed that the government resolved concerns about the reduction of functions by making the two research institutes directly affiliated with the Space Aviation Agency during the National Assembly audit, but the National Assembly has not shown any signs of resuming the review of the Space Aviation Agency Act.

According to the National Assembly Act, for the bill to be reviewed again by the subcommittee, the chairperson of the agenda coordination committee must report the review progress to the committee, and the committee chairperson must refer the agenda to the subcommittee. However, the progress report has not been submitted.

Following the one-person protest and press conference, Governor Park met with Jang Je-won, chairman of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, and its members to deliver a statement and request cooperation for the prompt passage of the Space Aviation Agency Act.

He emphasized, “The ruling and opposition parties must unite this time and ensure the special act is passed within the November regular session.”

Gyeongnam Province plans to make every effort to ensure the special act passes in the National Assembly plenary session in November and to facilitate the early opening of the agency’s headquarters.