“In the past, we focused on what we wanted to do, but now it is time to conduct research that responds to the tasks needed by the country and the social demands.”
Kwon Eui-kyun, president of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), held his first official press conference on the 25th in Jung-gu, Seoul, and stated, “We will establish the Geological Resource Institute around four key areas: resource development, climate change research including earth environmental studies, national safety related to earthquake disasters, and resource recycling,” as he outlined the direction of the institute’s operations, its major tasks, and future vision.
On this day, Kwon identified the urgent issue as the infrastructure development for the physical exploration research vessel 'Tamhae 3.' He noted, “With nearly 200 billion won invested, Tamhae 3 has a higher technical level than the existing Tamhae 2, but stabilizing the equipment and processing the acquired data will take as long as 4 to 5 years,” adding, “Completing the infrastructure related to this is a major goal.”
At the same time, Kwon remarked, “We cannot overlook the commercialization of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology for addressing climate change and achieving carbon neutrality, securing water resources, and developing and securing global key mineral resources,” saying he would plan and participate in suitable national research and development (R&D) projects to contribute further.
To this end, the Geological Resource Institute is establishing a large project group centered around three pillars: geological security, energy resource security, and climate change security, and is pursuing projects to generate results. Major research focuses include the development of rare earth processing technology, plans to secure water resources combined with artificial intelligence (AI), and establishing systems that can detect complex disasters such as wildfires, sinkholes, and landslides at an early stage.
Kwon stated, “In the long term, to create national R&D projects, we will operate a think tank to gather ideas from researchers and seek out competitive items,” adding, “By identifying corporate needs and reflecting them in research projects, we will also pursue large-scale technology commercialization.”
In addition, Kwon mentioned, “While the areas the Geological Resource Institute will focus on should be decided after further discussions, we should also pay attention to investigating sites for radioactive waste disposal, large-scale demonstration projects related to CCUS, securing seabed minerals, and developing a long-term roadmap for future energy,” stating it is time to set research directions based on new strategies rather than sticking to existing tasks.
Meanwhile, regarding the development of space resources, he added, “This should be developed based on research results that have been analyzed comprehensively from a broader area,” emphasizing that “the extent to which data has been accumulated will guarantee success and economic viability, so we will continue to proceed steadily in parallel with other research.”