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The President, currently on a state visit to the Arctic region, met with Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist of Greenland to sign four Memorandums of Understanding expanding the scope of cooperation on natural resources.
Greenland is a nation rich in mineral resources including gas and oil reserves and rare-earth elements. A number of advanced countries including the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Japan have displayed their will to take part in Greenland’s development project for natural resources in a bid to compete for future resources.
The United States Geological Survey (UNGS) estimated 17 billion barrels of oil and gas are reserved on the west coast and 31.4 billion barrels in northeastern regions. The UNGS also suggested that off the coast of Greenland has an extensive amount of reserves too. The total amount of resource reserves is predicted to account for 25% of the amount required from across the world.
Korea and Greenland, on the occasion of The President’s visit, laid the foundation for long-term cooperation for resource development in environmentally-friendly and sustainable way.
With the MOU as momentum, the two nations would conduct a joint geo-scientific investigation and technical work for development of mineral resources, and facilitate investment by establishing a special government management team in both countries and improving networks with state enterprise NUNA Minerals and Geological Survey of Denmark & Greenland.
As well, the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) and Aarhus University of Denmark have signed an MOU to conduct joint research on the Arctic’s climate, geological features, living organisms, and the glaciers, elevating the level of research on the polar regions.
Upon conclusion, the two nations pledged to share their experience in economic growth and in industrialization too, and at the same time agreed to make concerted efforts to be a perfect partner for each other, balancing development and preservation of natural resources.
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
