A domestic expedition team says they have discovered a meteorite for the first time at the South Pole.

The polar institute under the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute said Friday that a Korean team that began their Antarctic mission in early January has recently found five meteorites in the area.

The institute says it's meaningful that Koreans are the first to make the discovery.

Such finds of meteoric rock are useful for research into the earth's history and the origins of the universe.