The government has picked Terra Nova Bay as the site for Korea's second science research base in Antarctica.

The Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry announced the selection on Wednesday based on an 18-day survey of Terra Nova Bay and Cape Burks recently completed by the nation’s first icebreaker, the “Araon.”

Terra Nova, located near the Ross Sea, has easier access to land and sea, a wider variety and scope of research opportunities, and nearby runways which enable flight transport in contingency situations.

The 33-hundred-square-meter eco-friendly base will be built by 2014. Seoul will submit the construction plan to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting this month.

A ministry official says the nation’s first Antarctic facility, the King Sejong Base, afforded limited research possibilities. He said the new base will allow Korean researchers to increase their knowledge of the polar region through studies on the atmosphere, glaciers and the Antarctic as a whole.