Astronaut Yi So-yeon of Korea attends a training session in Star City outside Moscow on Tuesday. An international space crew is set to take off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 8. /AFP

Korea's plans to advertise in space are in limbo after Russia abruptly changed its mind on the idea.

An official with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute on Tuesday said Russia changed its mind recently and decided not to allow the Korean astronauts to carry corporate logos on their space suits in order to maintain their dignity as astronauts.

Choi Gi-hyuk, the chief of the institute's astronaut program, hastily departed for Russia on Tuesday to discuss the issue with Russian officials.

In July last year, the then Ministry of Science and Technology said it was discussing placing ads on the astronauts' space suits, with 10 percent of the ad revenue to go to Russia.

Corporate ads have been sent into space several times already, including on space probes and the international space station.

The KARI's astronaut program office had asked Korean conglomerates to sponsor the astronauts' ads, foreseeing no problems with the idea.

Experts had predicted that the country could earn at least W10 billion (US$1=W1,014) if Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG or SK sponsored ads on space suits and the international space station.

(englishnews@chosun.com )