Grounded astronaut says sorry to S.Korean nation

By Chris Baldwin

STAR CITY, Russia (Reuters) - The man who lost the chance to be South Korea's first man in space apologised on Wednesday for breaking the rules at a Russian training base.

Ko San, 31, was replaced last week as a primary crew member for an April flight on a Soyuz spacecraft after Russia's Federal Space Agency said he had removed sensitive material from the cosmonauts' training centre where he had been preparing.

"I am sorry for what has happened and want to apologise to the (training centre) and the Korean people," said Ko at a press conference outside Moscow.

The space agency said Ko had taken training manuals to his dormitory and told South Korea's Ministry of Science "even small mistakes can bring about grave consequences in space".

South Korean officials told Korean reporters last week Ko had accidentally sent a pilot's training manual home to Seoul in a package of personal belongings.

Both the Russian Federal Space Agency and training centre officials refused to comment on Ko's reassignment to stand-by status, citing a contractual provision whereby all news concerning Korean crew members is to be handled by South Korea.

South Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology paid Russia $25 million in December 2006 for the right to send a Korean into space. Seoul choose Ko and replacement, Yi So-yeon, from 35,000 candidates in the nationwide selection process.

The Ministry did not assign blame. Ko said his mistakes were a result of over enthusiasm and not malice.