The 26-1st meeting of the Korea Arctic Research Consortium (KARC) Steering Committee was held on July 10, 2026, at the Grand Ballroom of LW Convention in Seoul. Professor Choi Woo-ik, Director of the Russian Research Institute, attended the meeting as a member of the Steering Committee. Twenty-seven of the Consortium’s 43 member institutions participated in the meeting, where agenda items were deliberated and decided under the chairmanship of Shin Hyung-chul, President of the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI).

Major agenda items included the admission of new members, reports on interdisciplinary research achievements by member institutions, a review of major activities and achievements in 2025, and the 2026 business plan. Eight institutions were approved for membership: Gyeongbuk Research Institute, Pusan National University’s Human-Centered Carbon-Neutral Global Supply Chain Research Center, Gyeongnam Research Institute, Sejong Institute, Korea Maritime and Ocean University’s Institute of International Maritime Affairs, the Korea Coast Guard, Ulsan Research Institute, and the Korea Arctic Route Association.

The Korea Arctic Research Consortium was established in 2015 with leading domestic research and industry institutions specializing in Arctic affairs, including the Korea Polar Research Institute and the Korea Maritime Institute. The Russian Research Institute at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) is one of the Consortium’s founding member institutions.

The Institute has conducted research on the Russian Arctic through its HK Research Project (2009–2019) and HK+ Type 2 Research Project (2019–2026). In 2018, the Institute was awarded a PAP research project by the Korea Polar Research Institute, titled “Development of the Russian Arctic and Changes in Local Communities,” which continued through 2022. As part of these efforts, the Institute established the Polar Research Center at the HUFS Songdo Campus in 2020, further strengthening its research infrastructure and environment.

Building on this foundation, the Polar Research Center was commissioned by the Korea Polar Research Institute each year from 2022 to 2024 to conduct the “Arctic Information Map Interface” research project. Through these sustained research activities and collaborations, the Institute has continued to strengthen its expertise and research capacity in Arctic studies, particularly in relation to the Russian Arctic.