The Digital Chosunilbo has a piece up:

Space exploration appears to be a field of great interest among Koreans. As evidence of this, on Friday alone more than 600 people expressed hope of becoming the country’s first astronaut. According to officials at Seoul’s Science and Technology Ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the number of potential candidates for the job reached over 200 just two hours after online applications became available at 9 a.m. on Friday.

The screening process has four stages through which two finalists will be selected by the year’s end. After a rigorous 15-month training program at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center next year, one of the two will be chosen to travel to the International Space Station in April 2008, a 10-day experience aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Applications will be accepted through July 14.