"The roadmap for developing space technology is meaningful as the government came up with a foundation to secure core technology," Hong Nam-ki, vice minister of the ICT ministry, told reporters. "The government will push forward with the roadmap based with a long-term vision."

It marks the first time that South Korea has mapped out the long-term strategy as the country has so far mostly been busy with narrowing a technology gap with powerhouses such as the United States and Russia, the ministry said.

"The ministry came up with the roadmap centered around core technologies to strengthen the correlation between a mission for space development and technology development," said Bae Tae-min, an ICT official in charge of the policy.

As part of the plan, the government will inject a total of 670.3 billion won ($587.4 million) into the sector this year, slightly down from 727.8 billion won allocated for a year earlier.

Of the total, 214 billion won will be spent on developing a new multipurpose satellite entirely with indigenous technology, with another 220 billion won for developing the indigenous launcher.

The government will also help local firms export more space products to overseas markets, in an effort to create more jobs in the sector. (Yonhap)