Russia has reportedly offered to help South Korea build its own space center.

An official at Russia's Khrunichev Space Center told the Itar-Tass news agency Thursday that Khrunichev would manufacture the first stage of a light booster rocket for South Korea under an agreement signed this week by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The official also said bilateral cooperation in space technology would be further extended to jointly build rocket launch vehicles and a launching station.