International Legal Regulation for Environmental Contamination on Outer Space Activities

우주에서의 환경오염 방지를 위한 국제법적 규제

The resources of outer space are for the common exploitation of mankind, and it is a common responsibility of mankind to protect the outer space environment. With the rapid development of space science and technology, and especially with the busy space activities of some major space powers, environmental contamination or space debris is steadily increasing in quantity and has brought grave potential threats and actual damage to the outer space environment and human activities in space. Especially We must mitigate and seek out a solution to remove space debris which poses a threat directly to man's exploitation and use of outer space activities in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO), through international cooperation and agreement in the fields of space science, economics, politics and law, in order to safeguard the life and property of mankind and protect the earth's environment. While the issue of space debris has been the subject of scientific study and discussion for some time now, it has yet to be fully addressed within the context of an international legal framework. During the earlier stages of the space age, which began in the late 1950s, the focus of international lawmakers and diplomats was the establishment of basic rules which sought to define the legal nature of outer space and set out the parameters for space activities and the nature and scope of activities carried out in outer space were quite limited. Consequently, environmental issues and the risks that might arise from the generation of space debris did not receive priority attention within the context of the development international space law. In recent years, however, the world has seen dramatic advances in technology and increases in the type and number of space-related activities which are being carried out. In addition, the number of actors in this field has exploded from two highly developed States to a vast array of different States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including private industry. Therefore, the number of artificial objects in the near-Earth space is continually increasing. As has been previously mentioned, COPUOS was the entity that created the existing five treaties, and five sets of legal Principles, which form the core of space law, and COPUOS is clearly the most appropriate entity to oversee the creation of this regulatory body for the outer space environmental problem. This idea has been proposed by various States and also at the ILA Conference in Buenos Aires. The ILA Conference in Buenos Aires produced an extensive proposal for such a regulatory regime, dealing with space debris issues in legal terms This article seeks to discuss the status of international law as it relates to outer space environmental problem and space debris and indicate a course of action which might be taken by the international community to develop a legal framework which can adequately cope with the complexity of issues that have recently been recognized. In Section Ⅱ,Ⅲ and IV of this article discuss the current status of international space law, and the extent to which some of the issues raised by earth and space environment are accounted for within the existing United Nations multilateral treaties. Section V and VI discuss the scope and nature of space debris issues as they emerged from the recent multi-year study carried out by the ILA, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ("COPUOS") as a prelude to the matters that will require the attention of international lawmakers in the future. Finally, analyzes the difficulties inherent in the future regulation and control of space debris and the activities to protect the earth's environment. and indicates a possible course of action which could well provide, at the least, a partial solution to this complex challenge.

우주활동의 증가와 더불어 이는 지구상의 인류와 환경에 대한 지속적인 위협요인이 되고 있으며 그중에서도 우주활동과 관련된 환경문제로서 가장 심각한 것으로 파악되고 있는 것이 우주폐기물의 문제이다. 이는 다른 우주 물체에 대해서도 커다란 위협이 될 뿐 아니라 지구의 대기권으로 재진입하여 인간이 통제(control)할 수 없는 상태에서 지구상에 낙하될 때에 인간의 생명과 재산상에 커다란 위험을 초래하게 된다. 현재 우주활동과정에서의 우주공간이나 지구를 포함한 천체에 대한 환경보호와 그 대처를 위한 제도적 장치는 아직 미흡하며 이를 위한 우주국제법적 해결이 모색되고 있고 부분적으로는 우주환경오염을 방지하고자 하는 규정이 일부 조약에 도입되기도 하였다. UN COPUOS를 중심으로 우주조약이나 책임협약 및 달 협정뿐만 아니라 등록협약의 관련조항에서도 가능한 위험을 최소화하기 위한 규정을 두고 있음은 주지의 사실이다. 그밖에도 부분적 핵실험 금지조약이나 핵무기비확산 조약 그리고 환경변화기술의 군사적 사용금지협약 등을 통해서도 우주나 지구자연의 평화적인 이용에 대한 장애요인을 제거하기 위한 직,간접적인 법적 장치가 마련되어 있는 것으로 평가된다. 특히 별도의 법체계를 정립하는 것이 필요하다는 문제와 관련하여 ILA는 일찍이 1986년 세계국제법협회 (ILA) 서울 총회에서 의제로 제안된 이래로 8년여에 걸쳐 여러 차례 각국에서의 회기를 거쳐 이 문제에 대한 지속적인 논의를 해왔던 바, 그 결과 동 협회는 1994년 Buenos Aires 회의에서 최종 초안인 "우주 폐기물에 기인되는 손해로부터 우주 내지 자구환경을 보호하기 위한 국제문서초안"을 작성하여 COPUOS에 제출한 바 있다. 향후 이것은 COPUOS가 의제로 채택하여 기술분과나 법률분과소위원회에서 논의를 할 때 기초적인 검토 자료로서 중요한 역할을 할 것으로 사료되며 동위원회에서 이를 충분히 심의한 후 사안의 심각성에 비추어 조속한 결실을 맺게 되도록 노력해야 할 것이다.