Traditional Korean delicacies kimchi, gochujang (red pepper sauce) and ginseng are being made ready for their launch into space. The Ministry of Science and Technology said Sunday Korea’s first astronaut will be eating Korean space food which Dr. Kim Sung-soo of the Korea Food Research Institute is developing. The plan is for Korea’s first astronaut to take the foods into space on a journey scheduled for April 2008. According to the ministry, the Korean Food Research Institute is working together with an academy in Kazakhstan that makes food for Russian cosmonauts.

The KRI will produce and treat the food for space consumption and will test it and develop packing techniques together with the Kazakh academy. The ministry says the U.S., Russia and China provide space versions of their traditional dishes for astronauts to make sure they have something that suits their taste buds as they roam the final frontier. “If the Korean astronaut eats our traditional food in space, it will be a great opportunity to show off our nation’s culinary culture, specifically the greatness of kimchi, which is already an internationally recognized food,” Kim said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )