UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Antarctica on Friday, the first UN chief to go to the South Pole. Accompanied by his wife Yoo Soon-taek, Chilean Environment Minister Anlia Uriarte and some 20 reporters, Ban visited Korea¡¯s King Sejong Station to encourage the scientists there and to the Collins Glacier on King George Island to see for himself the impact of climate change.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) takes a walk by the Torres del Paine National Park, Chile on Saturday. Ban visited Antarctica and Chilean Patagonia to see first-hand the impact of climate change and the melting of glaciers./AP
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The real oddity, however, are the competing claims of several countries for the territory if the glaciers do melt. Nations are competing to get their hands on the rich natural resources under the uninhabited ice. There are now only research stations belonging to Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Poland, Russia and Uruguay on King George Island north of Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 bans military activity on the continent and does not recognize any territorial claims. But now these claims are resurfacing.
Chile has recently decided to resume operation of a navy base in Antarctica along with army and air force bases. Britain is planning to apply to the UN to expand its Antarctic territory 1 million sq. km toward the ocean floor. It also stations aircraft carriers and marines around the Antarctic and engages in submarine patrols. There are even fears of a second Falklands War as the parts the U.K. is interested in overlap areas claimed by Chile and Argentina. The U.S. Air Force also recently completed reconnoitering Antarctica and started sending military supplies there by troop carrier.
China is also interested. Under the 24th Antarctic exploration initiative, dubbed Panda, the country has built a research station at the continent¡¯s highest point of DomeA, which rises 4,093 m above sea level, and is producing a detailed map of the Antarctica, even mobilizing two intelligent robots for the purpose. In addition, it plans to dispatch some 200 engineers and scientists there to expand its two existing stations and prepare to build a third.
Lee Sang-hoon, the head of the King Sejong Station, said, ¡°Although Antarctica is set aside as a scientific preserve according to the Antarctic Treaty, countries worldwide are expanding their stations to untapped territories near the South Pole to secure ground for their right to the territories.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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