Exciting Korea

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Korea made the first effort to conduct commercial operation via the Arctic Sea

Oct 23, 2013

Korea Shipping Liner, Hyundai Glovis successfully operated the nation’s first cargo transportation through the Northern Sea Route, and the vessel was scheduled to arrive at Sapo Quay of Gwangyang Port, South Jeolla Province on 21st October, after its 35-day navigation, said Shipping Policy Division, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Oct.22.

The Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries held a ceremony at Gwangyang Port on 22nd October, celebrating the landmark port entry.

On September 16th Hyundai Glovis departed from Port Ust Luga in Russia, transporting 44,000 tons of naphtha. The ship traveled 35 days, a total distance of about 15,000 kilo meters. It was expected to take 30 days at an average of 12 knots/ hour, but due to the bad weather and the Russian ice breakers being on call at the ice-bound areas, the operation got somewhat delayed.

Through this pilot operation, Korea made the first ever effort to conduct commercial operation between Asia and Europe by the Arctic Sea. It is highly meaningful that this pilot operation drew up a new Arctic business model for Korea.

Korean authorities believe that this pilot operation will serve as a lesson for other shipping companies in establishing strategies on their starting businesses in Arctic area.

Ki-Jeong Jeon, Assistant Minister for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries noted, "We are seeing valuable accomplishments through this pilot operation; the Korean shipping company secured cargoes, had Korean experts and seamen boarded, and for the first time ever, operated through the North Pole Route, which was an area foreign shipping companies mainly operated in. And through this operation, the seamen and experts managed to learn and experience the operation procedures.”

According to the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea is in its infancy with regards to the NSR operation. For Korea, the available period for NSR operation is around 4-5 months a year. Korea also has difficulties securing cargoes and is in lack of ice breakers.

Despite these obstacles, the available period of operation at the Arctic Sea and the size of cargo volume are increasing and many countries are pushing ahead with the resource exploration in the Arctic area. As such, the Northern Sea Pole has a strong potential to grow into a huge cargo transport market.

The Korean government, in this regard, will strengthen cooperation with Russia and other countries around the Arctic area, and support the Korean shipping companies so that they can successfully tap into the Northern Sea Route.

Meanwhile, the 46 rounds of transportations through the NSR, that were operated last year, were mainly led by the Scandinavian nations, such as Norway, Sweden and Finland. Most recently in August this year, China transported steel products through bulk vessel (19,000 ton), which was also a pilot operation through the NSR.

Source: Shipping Policy Division, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries

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Incheon Int’l Airport opened new passenger terminal

  Korea broke ground for a second passenger terminal at Incheon International Airport as part of efforts to better meet its increasing demand and have a bigger presence in global transportation, officials said, wrote Korea Observer on Sept 26.

The airport, which opened in 2001 and is located about 40 kilometers west of Seoul, has been consecutively rated as the world’s best by the Airports Council International.

Following its completion of the second phase of the expansion project in 2008, the government kicked off its third phase in 2011, pushing to build the second passenger terminal, among other things.

The additional terminal, located right next to the existing one, will have a total floor space of 384,000 square meters and be equipped with diverse energy-saving facilities, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Once completed in 2017, the airport is expected to be able to handle 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tons of air cargo per year, the ministry said.

Currently, it has three runways and deals with some 44 million passengers and 4.5 million tons of cargo every year, making it one of the busiest airports in the world.

If the current trend of its constantly rising demand of both passengers and cargo continues, the airport is expected to experience saturation around 2017, according to the government.

The terminal construction project will require 2.2 trillion won (US$2.05 billion), with the total amount for the third phase of the expansion project to reach 4.9 trillion won, it added.

“The new terminal will further promote the status of the airport on the international arena and contribute to the vitalization of our economy,” Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said in his congratulatory remarks during the ground-breaking ceremony.’

Source: Korea Observer.

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China, Russia discuss resumption of nuclear talks with N. Korea

Oct. 23, 2013

The chief nuclear envoys from China and Russia held talks this week during which they discussed ways to resume the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, China’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The meeting between China’s chief delegate to the six-party talks, Wu Dawei, and his Russian counterpart, Igor Morgulov, took place on Monday in Beijing, the ministry said in a brief statement.

The nuclear envoys “exchanged in-depth views on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks,” the statement said.

Their meeting came a day after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev started a two-day visit to China for talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. China and Russia are members of the off-and-on six-party talks. The multilateral forum, involving the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia, has been stalled since late 2008. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006.

China has been keen to restart the six-party talks, but South Korea and the U.S. insist that a new round of talks will not take place unless North Korea demonstrates its seriousness about denuclearization through concrete actions.

Source: Yonhap news.

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Kugak music modern band performing at welcoming dinner for VIP guests@Global E-gov. Forum held at KINTEX, Ilsan, on Oct.22, 2013