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Looking at the news of the launch of Danuri today (the 5th), other countries have already been to the moon decades ago, but we are also curious about what it means to go now.

However, not only us, but also other countries have been leaving for the moon again recently.



Reporter Ha-jeong Park tells the reason.



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The Cold War era in which capitalism and communism fought fiercely.



In the beginning, the Soviet Union was ahead, but the desperate United States,



[President Kennedy (1962): We will go to the moon in the 1960s, and do other things.

I will make sure the universe is ruled under a banner of freedom and peace, not a banner of hostile conquest.]  



Eventually, he was the first to land on the moon and boost his momentum.



However, after the Cold War, the two countries conducted space experiments together, ending the first act of the space race.



However, a new hegemon is emerging, China.



[Ryu Hansoo/Professor of History Contents at Sangmyung University: You would think that the best field to visualize to the world that it can catch up with the US and get ahead is to go into space.]



China succeeded in trying to land on the far side of the moon, which even the US has never been to I did.



After the Cold War, the United States, which did not go to the moon, again brought up a manned lunar exploration project, and China came up with a lunar base plan with Russia in response.



The great powers are competing to explore the moon, not only for systemic competition, but also for economic gain.



The moon's resources are key.



[Moon Hong-gyu / Head of Space Exploration Group, Korea Astronomy Research Institute: (The representative resource on the moon) is a substance called helium 3.

If we have nuclear fusion technology in the future, it can obtain a very large amount of energy at a very low price (resource.)]



Also, the strategic judgment that great powers should preempt because the moon can serve as an outpost to Mars or beyond. We do not spare any investment in the fact that space launch vehicle technology is a key military technology.



[Mike Pence/Vice President of the United States (2019): As we were in the 1960s, we are again in a space race.

And there are a lot more at stake.]



These are the reasons why the moon has become a hot topic again in the New Cold War era.