Anchor: South Korea has opened its second research base in Antarctica. The South is now only the tenth country in the world to have at least two research bases on the icy continent. Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries held a ceremony Wednesday to mark the completion of South Korea’s second research base, Jang Bo-go, in Antarctica. The base, named after a famous admiral from the ancient Silla dynasty, is located near Terra Nova Bay on the southeastern tip of the Antarctic.
 
Around 300 people attended the ceremony, including National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee, Korea Polar Research Institute President Kim Yea-dong, the oceans ministry officials and research station representatives from the U.S., New Zealand and Italy.
 
Participants buried a time capsule inside the base to mark the station’s completion. The time capsule will be unsealed in 2044.
 
The four-thousand-458 square meter base consists of 16 buildings and can accommodate 60 people. Construction began in 2006 and cost around 104 billion won.
 
The construction incorporated hydrodynamic design so the buildings can withstand freezing temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius and winds up to 65 meters per second. The base uses solar and wind power and heat waste from power generators as auxiliary energy sources.
 
The Jang Bo-go will take over some of the work being conducted by South Korea’s first Antarctic research base, King Sejong Station.
 
Research at Jang Bo-go will focus on glaciers, meteorites, the ozone layer and extreme engineering while King Sejong Station will focus on the marine environment and coastal ecology.
 
In a video message, President Park Geun-hye congratulated those who helped build the Jang Bo-go station amid extreme weather conditions and gave her best wishes to the researches.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.