South Korea's First Astronaut Leaves Hospital

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A science official says South Korea's first astronaut has left a hospital after recovering from neck and back pain apparently caused by her Russian spacecraft's unexpectedly steep descent to Earth last month.

Science Ministry official Jung Kyung-taek said Yi So-yeon was released Wednesday from a military-run hospital because her pains have almost stopped. She was hospitalized April 29.

Yi's capsule missed its target by about 260 miles due to an apparent technical glitch when it landed on a barren Kazakhstan steppe on April 19.

The 29-year-old Yi is a bioengineer at the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

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