Korea active in antarctic research mission

By Chang Soon-keun

Scientist emeritus of the Korea Polar Research Institute

A British sailor unexpectedly discovered Antarctica, often called "the seventh continent," in the early 19th century. Antarctica is synonymous with the harshest and most isolated environment.

Nonetheless, scientifically it is very important. It is a big source of coldness for the earth and has a big influence on the global climate. Antarctica is also a large object of global research for the International Geophysical Year (IGY). IGY was an international scientific project. More than 50 countries were involved.

It covers several phases of Earth sciences, including ionosphere, aurora, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, gravity, meteorology, oceanography, seismology and solar activity.

Korea began showing deep interest in the Antarctic in 1978 on special instruction from President Park Chung-hee. Many Korean fishermen were then earnest in catching krill in the Antarctic and research got under way extensively in the Southern Ocean off Enderby and Wilkes Lands in East Antarctica. Although the nation has continued to catch krill since then, it failed to find a proper way to consume it effectively. As a result, most of the krill caught were exported or used to feed animals.

The Korean Federation of Sea Scouts carried out a Korean Antarctic Exploration in November and December in 1985. They climbed up Vinson Massif, with an altitude of 4,987 meters, the highest mountain in Antarctica on November 29, 1985, and visited Chilean and Chinese stations to get information on the construction of the station and overwintering on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica. Two scientists from the Ocean Research and Development Institute participated in the expedition.

Korea joined the Antarctic Treaty as the 33rd signatory on Nov. 28, 1986. President Chun Doo-hwan handed down an instruction "to build a station as soon as possible" in early 1987.

King Sejong Station

Upon the completion of feasibility studies of the station construction on King George Island in April-May of 1987, technicians of Hyundai Engineering began to design the station. King George Island is 27 kilometers wide and 72 kilometers long, smaller than Korea's southernmost province, Jeju Island. The island was mostly covered with ice and snow, and several stations were built along the southern coast, particularly along Maxwell Bay in the southwestern part of the island. It is about 1,000 kilometers away from Cape Horn by Drake Passage.

The construction ship, HHI 1200 left the port of Ulsan in the middle of October 1987 and arrived in the waters in front of Barton Peninsula, King George Island on Dec. 15, the same year. A ground-breaking ceremony was held the following day. They began to unload the equipment and construction materials from the ship. It was not cold and the days were long in the austral summer of the island. All involved enjoyed the long days for the construction of the station.

The King Sejong Station was dedicated at the Barton Peninsula on Feb. 17, 1988. The station is 1,388 square meters and the station is composed of several buildings including the main building, research building, two residential buildings, a power plant, a machinery shop, and a couple of observation huts. Water was supplied from Hyundai pond, a reservoir made by technicians. In winter fresh water was provided by the desalinization unit.

A small pier and six fuel tanks were also built. When the station was completed, President Chun sent a message with "Korea to the Antarctic for Peace of the World" stating simply and clearly the reason for Korea's advancement into the Antarctic. Meanwhile, the first Korean Antarctic research was carried out in the vicinity of King George Island and in Bransfield Strait on a chartered Chilean tug boat.

Antarctic research program

The Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) under the umbrella of Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) established the Polar Research Laboratory in mid-March 1987. The laboratory was expanded into the Polar Research Department consisting of the Polar Research Laboratory, King Sejong Station, and Polar Support Center in May, 1988. Korea joined the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party (ATCP) in October 1989 for her achievements in the Antarctic.

The goal of Antarctic research is to get basic materials and records to protect and research the global environment in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. Research was intensively carried out. Scientists tried to observe and record the unique natural phenomena taking place there.

They analyze ice, sediment core, rocks, earthquakes records, upper atmospheric data, and biological samples such as moss, lichen, krill, and clams. For example, Antarctic ice keeps air bubbles of which ingredients such as CO2, methane, and isotopes elements show the climatological changes since hundreds of thousand years ago.

Geophysicists record the earthquakes and animal sounds by a moored array of automatic recorders in the Southern Ocean. Biologists also analyze terrestrial and marine ecosystems and/or to extract useful ingredients or micro-organisms from materials such as lichen or penguin excrement for human wellbeing.

The summer research party, initially comprising of about 10 people, increased to more than 100 dispatched from domestic and foreign universities and institutes. Foreign or domestic vessels were chartered to conduct oceanographic research and bring food, research and consuming materials from Korea from Punta Arenas, Chile, to the station.

Dasan Station

Although a major part of observations and sample gatherings were made in the austral summer every year, the overwintering party stays in the station throughout the year to observe and record environmental changes around the station. It is the 23rd overwintering party composed of 17 members under the leadership of Dr. Kang Sung-ho who actually runs the King Sejong Station.

They will be replaced by the 24th overwintering party under the leadership of Dr. Shin Hyung-chul at the beginning of 2011. Life at the station is now not so solitary and isolated thanks to the Internet. They have also had YTN, Arirang TV, and KBS-America since 2005 and a good communication system was installed by KT in 2010.

KODRI established the Dasan Station for Arctic research in Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Islands, Norway on April 29, 2002. The Dasan Station is different from the King Sejong Station. It was built and managed by a Norwegian company. It means that power and water were provided by the company, and cooking is prohibited at the station. They have to use the restaurant.

The Dasan Station is half of a two-story building which is shared with French scientists. Atmospheric and biological scientists and geologists carry out their research there. They reach the station through Oslo, Tromsoe, and Longyearbyen, a small town located in Spitsbergen Island. Meanwhile, Polar Experience Teams composed of teachers, students, or TV and press journalists have visited the Dasan or the King Sejong Station.

"The Polar Science and Technology Development Plan" was approved at the National Science & Technology Council on July 22, 2002. The plan included building an icebreaker and establishing a station on the mainland of Antarctica and a professional research organization.

Polar Research Institute

Although the Korean Antarctic Research Program was carried out without incident for several years following its start in 1987, the tragic death of Jeon Jae-gyu, geophysicist of the 17th overwintering party, occurred in the evening of Dec. 7, 2003. He drowned when the rubber boat he was in capsized while searching for three people in distress. The missing was found by Chileans two days later.

They hastened to establish an organization, not belonging to KORDI, but an independent one, to prevent a repeat of the tragedy. It is not easy to conduct a sure thing in Korea, if the organization is not independent. Finally the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) was established under the direction of KORDI on April 16, 2004. It moved to New Songdo City, Incheon in March 2006.

Meanwhile, the Korea Supporters Association for Polar Research was established with the goal of helping Korean polar research in mid-January 2006. They began to search for meteorites in the heart of Antarctica in the austral summer of 2006 and 2007, where igneous petrologists collected more than 20 meteorites.

They also hastened to build an icebreaker, and she was completed in December 2009. The first Korean-made icebreaker with the length of 110 meters and a gross tonnage of 7,487 tons has the capacity of sailing 3 knots per hour while breaking ice 1 meter thick.

They have decided to build a station on Antarctica's mainland by 2014. In March 2010, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced the construction of the second station in Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land, East Antarctica, based on the data gathered by the reconnaissance survey in the austral summer of 2009 and 2010.

Korean polar research is funded purely from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The writer obtained his Ph.D. with research in Tertiary Biostratigraphy from the University of Bordeauxin France in 1980. Since his involvement in the Korean Antarctic Research Program since 1985, he has four overwintering as the officer-in-charge of the King Sejong Station. He is a scientist emeritus of the Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon. He can be reached at .