The nation has completed the construction of its second marine science base.

The base is located near Gageo Reef off the southwest mainland in the Yellow Sea. It is a 51-meter-high research facility built 47 kilometers west of South Jeolla Province’s Gageo Island.

Only 26 meters of the facility is above water.

Construction began in November 2007 and cost ten billion won, or eight-and-a-half million U.S. dollars. The structure is built to resist 21-meter-high waves and winds of up to 60 meters per second.

The Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute says the Gageo base is equipped with cutting-edge observation equipment to monitor climate, the ocean and air.

The nation's first maritime science base was built on Ieo Island.