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John Lee, a former senior executive at the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who has been appointed as the 1st Grade Director of the Space Mission Headquarters at the Korea Aerospace Agency, attended a personnel briefing held on the 24th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul and listened to the introduction remarks by Sung Tae-yoon, Chief of Policy Office at the Presidential Office.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Space Aviation Agency has confirmed that, in addition to Mission Director John Lee (pictured), it is recruiting personnel from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). If the recruitment is finalized, additional personnel will need to be registered with the U.S. government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The Space Aviation Agency has stated that if it selects personnel from NASA, all will comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act procedures. There are concerns that securing NASA personnel may become even more difficult amid challenges in acquiring overseas experts.

Park Soon-chul, spokesperson for the Space Aviation Agency, explained on the 9th, "Currently, the NASA personnel who have been hired or are scheduled to be hired by the Space Aviation Agency are Director Lee and the head of the Aeronautical Innovation Division, who is currently being recruited," adding, "All future NASA-origin American hires will be registered as foreign government agents under the FARA law."

According to the Space Aviation Agency, Director Lee submitted foreign government agent registration documents to the U.S. government last month in accordance with the FARA law. As an American working at the Space Aviation Agency, Director Lee represents the Korean government, making him subject to the FARA law. Although Director Lee’s hiring was confirmed on April 24, before the agency’s opening, and he attended a briefing at the Presidential Office, he registered as a foreign government agent with the U.S. government about three months later. The agency also explained that the head of the Aeronautical Innovation Division, currently being recruited from NASA, is also being registered as a foreign agent under the FARA law.

Once registered as a foreign government agent with the U.S. government, individuals must regularly submit details of salaries or goods received from the foreign government, political contributions, and lists of U.S. government officials contacted. Director Lee’s filing includes detailed salary information for June and July.

Regarding the delay in Director Lee’s foreign government agent registration, the Space Aviation Agency explained that they had understood the FARA law as a dormant statute, but the prevailing view is that this is related to the indictment of Su Mi Terry, a former senior researcher at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.

The indictment of Su Mi Terry became public in early last month. At that time, it was a major issue not only in diplomatic circles but also among Korean-American science and technology communities. Considering this, it is presumed that the Space Aviation Agency expedited Director Lee’s foreign government agent registration. The agency stated, "Since early May, we inquired with the U.S. side about Director Lee’s FARA registration, but only received a response in early July." They claim the delay was due to U.S. administrative delays and that there was no intentional delay on their part.

However, the application of the FARA law could discourage American experts from joining the Space Aviation Agency as employees. The agency had attempted to recruit NASA personnel even before its launch but had little success. In the foreign permanent recruitment program that closed in April, 212 applicants competed for 18 executive-level positions (program managers or higher), showing a competition ratio of 11.7 to 1, but only 10 of the applicants were foreigners. The Space Aviation Agency plans to hire about 65 additional employees in the second half of the year but will need more hires to fill its approximately 300-person staff.

If the Space Aviation Agency judged the FARA law to be dormant as they explained, this too can be seen as a policy mistake. Kim Dong-seok, head of the Korean-American Voter Alliance, criticized, "The U.S. has warned of strong enforcement of the FARA law," adding, "The Korean government is handling the FARA law complacently, putting Korean Americans at risk." Recently, Senator Bob Menendez, former chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was indicted for violating the FARA law and ultimately resigned his seat, demonstrating the U.S. government's strict enforcement of the law.

Professor Son Eun-sun of the University of Maryland, recognized as a leading Korean-American space scholar in the U.S., emphasized, "The government should be considerate when interacting with Korean-American scholars in the U.S." Professor Son stated, "There needs to be a means to protect Korean scientists during international cooperation, especially in the space sector where national interests are at stake." She explained that to address these issues, she organized Korean-American space scholars in the U.S. to form an association.