East Sea’s First Marine Science Hub Begins Full Operations to Monitor Climate Change in Real Time

South Korea’s first advanced marine science base in the East Sea has entered full operation, giving researchers a permanent platform to watch a rapidly changing marine environment.

The Wangdolcho base sits about 25 kilometers east of Hupo Port in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang Province. Construction ran from 2021 through this year and cost 24.3 billion won. It is the fourth marine science base in South Korean waters, following facilities at Ieodo, Gageocho and Sochengcho, but the first in the East Sea.

The structure stands in 23 meters of water and rises 53 meters in total, with 30 meters above sea level and 23 meters below it. Its four-leg jacket steel frame covers 570 square meters and weighs 928 tons. Engineers designed it for a 50-year service life and protection against waves reaching 19.24 meters, winds of 60 meters per second and magnitude 6.5 earthquakes.

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The Wangdolcho area is a treasure trove of an ecosystem where the East Korea Warm Current moves northward and warm and cold currents intersect.

The base houses 80 pieces of equipment across 34 types, along with an intelligent operating system, communications facilities, solar and diesel power, desalination equipment and accommodation for four researchers for up to seven days. It will join the national marine observation network and track long-term changes in sea level, temperature, acidification and marine ecosystems. Research vessels, unmanned surface vessels, underwater gliders and autonomous underwater vehicles will expand the monitoring system, while instruments will track pollution moving toward the Korean Peninsula and study background air conditions over the East Sea.

International work has already begun. A workshop involving experts from the Smithsonian Institution and the European Marine Biological Resource Centre examined images from autonomous reef monitoring structures installed at depths of 5 to 20 meters. Wangdolcho lies along the northward path of the East Korea Warm Current, where warm and cold currents meet, and supports more than 120 marine species.

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Through the full operation of the Wangdolcho base, where advanced observation equipment is integrated with unmanned systems, we expect to capture changes in the East Sea’s marine environment more accurately and quickly.