Antarctic Korean Teams Cherish Memories at Antarctic King Sejong Base

On Jan. 6, the Antarctic King Sejong Base was bustled with many team members including 2008 South Pole expedition team comprised of Korean university students (organized by Corea Alpine Club , supported by Dong-A daily, Korea Polar Research Institute and Dongwon Industry Co.) who will depart on Jan. 7, and ten members of the 20th South Korea’s Antarctic research team who will leave the base on Jan. 20. Seven members will depart later in April after completing the reconstruction of the base camp and five new members of the 21st team operating the Antarctic research team for one year will replace the leaving members.

Mixed feelings swept the atmosphere. Those who just arrived at the base felt their hearts throbbing for the new life, while those who were about to leave the base felt their empty heart, unwilling to part with the place they became used to.

The members finished their breakfast at the base lounge. After having breakfast, Shim Ji-hun, who was in charge of medical treatment, said in an excited voice, “Fourteen days are left until I go home.” Kim Hong-kwi, a mechanic, who is the member of the group that departs later, just smiled without saying a word. He has been serving this station for the past four years. He said, “The former team members shed a lot of tears when they parted from those who became familiar with.”

Lee Seong-il, who has been in charge of communications, said, “Whenever I see the 21st team members, they remind me of the first day I arrived here. I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I didn’t know whether I could get used to this new environment without my family and friends near me. I worried about whether I would get along with the team members. But now, there are no worries. The coworkers here are my family.”

Choi Moon-yeong, an atmospheric researcher, said he fell in love with the nature and animals in the South Pole. He brought a camera with him about one year ago and took about 20,000 photos so far. His pictures were inexplicably beautiful. He is planning to publish a book to tell a story of his life at the base.

Though it was a short stay at the King Sejong Base, the expedition team of university students was reluctant to depart. They visited neighboring villages, climbed the mountain peaks called Baekdu and Seorak which is located above about 200 sea levels and spent a night in a tent on a snow-covered field. They also wrote their reports based on the base design, management of clean and waste water as well as the daily routine of the research team.

Choi Seong-ho, a senior student of the architectural engineering department at Kyung Hee University and the member of the team, said, “I was deeply moved by the research team who lived in a completely isolated environment. I really hope that I could visit here again and experience Antarctic winter.”

“I will never forget the sea and the sky in the South and will miss gentoo penguins,” said Lee hye-ran, a junior student majoring in statistics at Chung-Ang University.

Meanwhile, the Korean university team, visiting the Antarctic King Sejong Base, plans to go to Patagonia which is located in the southernmost part of South America for seven days on Jan. 7.

kimsk@donga.com