SEOUL, October 10. /TASS/. South Korea is "in the final stages" of negotiations to terminate its contract with Russia on the launch of South Korean satellites Arirang-6 and CAS 500-2, the country’s Ministry of Science and ITC announced.

The ministry commented on a report by the YTN TV channel that Seoul may have to pay extra to launch the satellites if it is not possible to agree on the return of 60.3 bln won ($44.7 mln) already transferred to the Russian side.

"The Republic of Korea held negotiations with the Russian side on the terms of terminating the contract for the provision of satellite launching services. At the moment, [the negotiations] are at the final stage," the ministry said.

"We consider it difficult to disclose information about an international treaty, but we inform you that under these conditions during the negotiations we were guided by national interests," the ministry added.

In turn, Glavkosmos (part of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos) told TASS that they value South Korea’s constructive position on this issue.

"We note with satisfaction the interest and involvement of the official departments of the Republic of Korea in the resolution of the issue, represented by the Ministry of Science and ITC (Information, Technology and Communications) of this country, and we count on the constructive position of the South Korean counterparties in the ongoing dialogue. To date, negotiations with the South Korean side are ongoing, but it is not possible to comment on their progress. It seems premature at this point," representatives of Roscosmos said.

The ministry noted that the launch of satellites using Russian missiles "became impossible due to force majeure circumstances," namely sanctions against Russia after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The Arirang-6 satellite was scheduled to be launched on an Angara-1.2 rocket in 2022 from the Plesetsk spaceport.