South Korea's Air Force has selected its first ever female test pilot.
Captain Jung Da-jung is making history by taking on this challenging role.
Park Ji-won went to meet her and files this report.
South Korea's first female air force test pilot started her 46-week training earlier Wednesday,... the second day of this new year.
The Republic of Korea Air Force announced that captain Jung Da-jung has been selected as one of this year's three new test pilots,... along with captain Lee Cheol-soo and captain Woo Yong-kyun .
Their training, almost a year long, started at the 281st flight test squadron, located in the southeastern city of Sacheon in Gyeongsangnam-do Province.
She entered the Air Force Academy back in 2005... and has been serving as a KF-16 jet fighter pilot,... clocking up about one-thousand flight hours so far.

"I started dreaming of becoming an Air Force test pilot because I wanted to be the first to examine a wide range of aircraft equipment. I will do my best to live up to the title of first female test pilot,... and will help my fellow fighter pilots who conduct military operations."

After her training,... Jung is expected to conduct various kinds of testing missions, including the development of the South Korean-made KF-X,... which the military aims to complete sometime around 2022 or later.
Since 1990, the nation's air force has selected 42 test-pilots, all males,... after a rigorous selection process because their job of testing the safety of newly-developed aircraft is more dangerous than flying regular fighter jets.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.