The 24-1 Steering Committee of the Korean Arctic Research Consortium was held, attended by Professors Woo-ik Choi and Sun-rae Kim

The 24-1 Steering Committee of the Korean Arctic Research Consortium was held on June 19, 2024 at the LW Convention Grand Ballroom. Professor Sun-rae Kim represented the Russian Research Institute (Director: Sang-yong Pyo) and Professor Woo-ik Choi represented the Polar Research Center. The Steering Committee elected a new Steering Committee Chairperson and Secretary-General and approved new member applications. Dr. Hyung-chul Shin, who took office as the Director of the Polar Research Institute in December 2023, was elected as the new Steering Committee Chairperson. In addition, the main activities and achievements for 2023 were reported, and the 2024 business plan was announced. The Korea Arctic Research Consortium includes 41 domestic Arctic-related research and industrial organizations, including the Korea Polar Research Institute and the Korea Maritime Institute, and the Korea University of Foreign Studies Russian Research Institute and the Korea University of Foreign Studies Polar Research Center are also participating as member organizations.

The Steering Committee reported on the 2023 convergence planning research performance, and one of them was the ‘Korean Arctic Information Map Interface Construction and Utilization (3rd year)’ project, which Professor Choi Woo-ik was in charge of. Professor Choi Woo-ik reported on the performance of this project through a special roundtable seminar. The purpose of this project is to establish an Arctic integrated information system for continuous time-series monitoring and analysis by securing related data on changes in the Arctic environment and ecosystem due to global climate change and changes in economic and social conditions resulting from this. This project was initiated because there was a demand for building an information system that can process and provide the relevant information to suit the Korean market and society, and it was promoted because the need for a related project was raised in the 1st Basic Plan for Polar Activities Promotion (2022) of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The Korea Arctic Research Consortium is focusing on establishing a foundation for this project to develop into a mid- to long-term government portal in the future.