A decade of effort and anxiety all comes down to a single moment next summer when South Korea attempts to launch its first satellite into orbit. A successful launch would make it the ninth country in the world to launch a home-made satellite from its own soil and mark a huge step forward in its ambition to have a man on the moon by 2020.

This kind of a war scenario seen in a science fiction film like "Star Wars" is likely to become a reality in about 10 years, as the South Korean government is accelerating plans to equip their military with high-tech unmanned weapons systems and versatile combat robotic systems.

To counter North Korea's short and medium-range ballistic missile arsenal, South Korea seeks to develop a sophisticated, long-range cruise missile with a firing range of over 300 kilometers, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said.

South Korea, the world's most wired country, is rushing to turn what sounds like science fiction into everyday life. The government, which succeeded in getting broadband Internet into 72 percent of all households in the last half decade, has marshaled an army of scientists and business leaders to make robots full members of society.

South Korea has made substantial progress to usher in the space age during recent years. Besides the nine active and decommissioned satellites, the country plans to complete a space center, launch two more satellites and develop the country's first satellite launch vehicle by next year.

South Korean researchers have announced the successful creation of the world's first dog. The feat suggests that a market in cloned dogs, through which people grieving the loss of their favorite pets could order genetic duplicates, may not be as futuristic as some had thought. And by leapfrogging a seven-year-old, multimillion dollar U.S. effort, the success has clinched South Korea's quickly growing reputation as a premier center for cloning and stem cell research.

The South Korean Defense Security Command has announced that they intend to set up 250 armed, robotic guards to defend the 252-kilometer-long DMZ between North and South Korea.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed in a confidential report that South Korea enriched a tiny amount of uranium in 2000 to a level close to what would be useable in an atomic weapon.