The search for Korean mountaineers lost in the Himalayas last fall, including a renowned climber Park Young-seok, is to be resumed, officials said Monday.
Officials at the Park Young-seok Exploration and Culture Foundation said that a team of five rescue climbers left for Kathmandu, Nepal, from Incheon Airport on Monday morning to once again carry out the search mission for Park and his two teammates, Shin Dong-min and Kang Ki-seok.
The funeral for the three was already held in November last year, about a month after they went missing during their climb up Annapurna in the Himalayas. Rescue workers suspended search operations in late October after a 10-day search, citing safety concerns.
"As a friend of Park for more than 30 years, I cannot just leave him and his men there," Kim Jin-seong, the leader of the team, said. "I want to retrieve his belongings and remains, and bring them back to his family."
Annapurna is one of the world's 14 highest peaks, which are collectively called the "eight-thousanders" since each is at least 8,000 meters above sea level. Park had previously reached the top of Annapurna and was climbing a new route on the mountain's southern side.
Along with eight Sherpa guides, the team will mainly search areas on the southern side just below an altitude of 5,000 meters where the three are presumed to have been swept away by a major avalanche, the officials said. The team will return home on Sept. 4 after a month-long mission, they added.
Park was one of the world's most accomplished climbers. In 2005, he became the first in the world to complete the true Adventurers' Grand Slam, which entails reaching the North Pole and the South Pole, and scaling the 14 eight-thousanders and the Seven Summits, which are the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. (Yonhap)