A champion mountain climber seeks to become the first in the world to conquer all 16 global peaks higher than 8,000 meters.

Um Hong-gil said Thursday that he and his expeditionary team will depart on March 16th for a three-month expedition to climb the 8,400-meter Lhotse Shar, the seventh-highest peak in the world.

In 2001, Um was forced by bad weather to stop scaling Lhotse Shar at 7,600 meters. In 2003, he lost two expeditionary members to an avalanche at 8,250 meters on the same peak.

In July 2000, Um became the first South Korean and the seventh climber in the world to scale all 14 Himalayan peaks of more than 8,000 meters in height.

In May 2004, he also climbed the 8,505-meter Mount Yalung Kang, the fifth highest in the world.