South Korea Negotiates with EC on Galileo

PARIS, May 23, 2005/Satnews Daily/ — The European Commission said it is seeking European Union’s Council approval to start negotiations on a cooperation agreement with South Korea on the development of a Civil Global Navigation Satellite system (GNSS).

EU is currently developing Europe’s own global navigation satellite system called Galileo that will provide a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. It will be inter-operable with America’s GPS and GLONASS, the two other global satellite navigation systems.
 

“Galileo attracts the interest from countries all over the world. Negotiations with South Korea, the fourth economic power in Asia, represents a new step forward in the international cooperation for Galileo,” said Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the Commission in charge of Transport.

He said the Commission intends to start the negotiations immediately after approval of the Council.

South Korea is a country mastering space technology and its applications. It produces and consumes electronic goods and systems for which satellite navigation brings competitive advantages. South Korea uses actively satellite navigation services in areas such as transport, fleet management, science and geodesy.

International cooperation on Galileo is developing rapidly, according to EC. EU has already signed agreements with China and Israel and discussions are under way with India, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Malaysia and Australia.

A EU/US agreement on June 26, 2004 confirmed the full interoperability and compatibility between Galileo and GPS of U.S.

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