Yi So-Yeon (pictured here), previously a back-up of South Korea's first astronaut candidate Ko San, has now been the top pick after Ko was demoted for "violating security protocol" at a Russian training centre. Ko San was accused of removing sensitive training material from the unnamed Russian facility.
Yi So-Yeon, a 29-year-old female doctorate researcher of biotechnology, was picked togehter with Ko San for the astronaut program of South Korea in September, 2007. So-Yeon is set to fly on board Soyuz TMA-12 during an eight day trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in the coming April. Source: TheRegister