President Lee Jae Myung (middle) on Dec. 23 speaks at the presentation on the 2026 business plan of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries at the latter's headquarters in Busan's Dong-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Jeon Misun

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will launch next year pilot operations of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to secure a leading position in the era of Arctic navigation.

This was announced on Dec. 23 as part of the ministry's 2026 business plan at its headquarters in Busan under the vision of "a big leap forward into the NSR era, reviving the people's economy and achieving balanced growth."

Since the launch of the Lee administration, the ministry has completed its relocation to Busan and launched a NSR promotion headquarters to set the groundwork to develop a maritime capital region.

The NSR is the shortest sea route connecting Asia and Europe and a strategic path that is expected to reduce logistics costs and drive growth in upstream and downstream industries including shipbuilding, shipping and finance.

The pilot program will start next year. In the second half of the year, a domestic private shipping company will send a container ship from Busan to the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Europe's largest seaport, to gain experience and related data on polar voyages.

To support the project, up to KRW 11 billion in subsidies will go toward the construction of polar vessels such as icebreakers as well as incentives including cuts in port facility usage fees.

The ministry will also secure the know-how to build icebreaking container ships by 2030 and the training of polar marine engineers, or specialized personnel for polar navigation.

msjeon22@korea.kr