Seungmi Chung

Seungmi Chung is a Ph.D. candidate in Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on the conflicts between various actors in Korean society in the Korean Astronaut Program (KAP) and the relationship between KAP and Korean society. She holds an M.S. in Science and Technology Policy, and Aerospace Engineering from KAIST, South Korea, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in KAIST, South Korea. Her research interest includes space programs, a national project, the relationship between emerging science and society, and the public understanding of science.

Her dissertation examined how KAP has interacted with Korean society under the conflicts between various sociotechnical vanguards, government, research institutes, and the dominant image of the Korean public sphere. Also, in the process, this project examines how a new scientific expert, the Korean astronaut, was suggested, tried to be accepted, but finally failed to be accepted in Korean society. And it suggests a new term, expertization.