SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- To celebrate the 30th anniversary of an Antarctic base, South Korea buried a time capsule, which will be opened 70 years later to mark the base's centennial, the maritime ministry said Wednesday.
Members of the King Sejong Station sealed their personal belongings, equipment and photos in a time capsule and buried it under the base in a ceremony, which was attended by Oceans Minister Kim Young-choon and chiefs of foreign research stations in the South Pole.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the time capsule will be opened in 2088 to celebrate the centennial of South Korea's first polar research institute.
"We hope the time capsule will bestow the spirit of polar exploration to the next generation," the ministry said in a release.
The research institute was built on King George Island in the western part of the South Pole on Feb. 27, 1988, to explore the pristine environment of Antarctica and collaborate in international research projects.
King Sejong Station, South Korea's first polar research institute in the South Pole, is shown in this photo provided by the Korea Polar Research Institute. (Yonhap)
With about 100 staff, the station currently conducts two major expeditions per year, one in summer and the other in winter, for research activities in such areas as geology, biology, meteorology and seismology.
This year, the research team will explore a subglacial lake 2,500 kilometers below the Antarctic sea, where unique microorganisms and climate records may be found, the ministry said.
In 2014, a second research station opened in the South Pole in 2014, making South Korea the 10th country to have more than one research station on the frozen continent.
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