1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, will hold the “Arctic Partnership Week 2017” at Busan Port International Passenger Terminal’s convention center from December 12 to 15.

o The event will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and co-organized by the Korea Maritime Institute and the Korea Polar Research Institute of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology. It will bring together about 1,000 experts on Arctic affairs from industry, academia and research institutes at home and abroad.

2. The Arctic Partnership Week is an event where domestic and foreign Arctic experts gather to discuss comprehensive Arctic policies in related areas, including policy, science, industry and culture, and the first of its kind took place last year. At the upcoming event, which marks the second of its kind, participants will discuss ways for countries to work together under the theme “new challenges and opportunities for the Arctic cooperation.”

o This year’s Arctic Partnership Week will consist of a range of events in four areas: policy, science and technology, shipping and energy resource.

3. At last year’s Arctic Partnership Week, the ROK held the PAME (Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group) seminar, becoming the first Arctic Council observer state to do so. Following the achievement accomplished three years after it became an observer, the ROK will hold a seminar of the North Pacific Arctic Research Community (NPARC) this year, and pursue Arctic governance through cooperation between countries bordering the Arctic and non-Arctic countries. The NPARC consists of experts from three Arctic Council observer states in Northeast Asia (ROK, China and Japan).

4. The Arctic Partnership Week 2017 will also feature a range of events where people can participate. An exhibition on the Arctic, which will give a glimpse of life in the Arctic, will be held at Busan Port International Passenger Terminal (December 12-15), and cultural events, including screenings of films on the Arctic and lectures, will take place (December 14-15) at the Korea National Maritime Museum.


* unofficial translation