BUSAN — As discussions on developing Arctic shipping routes accelerate alongside efforts to diversify supply chains, the Busan Port Authority has proposed a model for international cooperation premised on environmental protection and safety. The idea is to treat the Arctic route not as a mere logistics corridor but as a shared task requiring environmental protection, science-based safety management and trust between countries.
BPA said on the 12th that President Song Sang-keun attended the 2026 Arctic Circle Assembly, held in Reykjavik, Iceland, from Oct. 8 to 10, where he presented principles and cooperation measures for the responsible use of the Arctic.
Song spoke at a session hosted by the Arctic Economic Council on the role of international ports in responsible polar connectivity. He stressed that even if reviewing the use of Arctic routes becomes unavoidable amid supply chain disruptions, three principles must be upheld: environmental responsibility, safety, and international cooperation grounded in trust and solidarity.
For ports, he proposed decarbonization through clean fuel supply facilities and onshore power supply systems, the collection, verification and sharing of data on sea ice, weather and the marine environment, and cross-border links between ports. The point, he said, is not to stop at assessing the commercial viability of Arctic routes but to also establish the environmental and safety standards and cooperative frameworks that actual voyages require.
Song also proposed a "Green Arctic Corridor" as a concrete framework for cooperation. It would be a multilateral platform in which Arctic states and non-Arctic states such as South Korea share clean fuels and related standards and secure navigational safety based on scientific data. Respect for indigenous Arctic communities is also included as a core principle.
Talks on cooperation among international ports continued during the assembly. Song met with Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the former Icelandic president who founded and chairs the Arctic Circle, where the two agreed on the urgency of responding to the Arctic climate and environmental crisis, and Song shared Busan Port's progress on decarbonization. With Gunnar Tryggvason, chief executive of Iceland's Faxafloi Ports, he shared experience in clean fuel supply and the construction and operation of onshore power systems and discussed ways for the two ports to cooperate. Faxafloi Ports oversees four harbors, including the Port of Reykjavik.
The proposal is seen as significant in expanding the role of ports in Arctic shipping beyond infrastructure expansion to setting environmental and safety standards and building international cooperation. "The future of the Arctic depends not on how much we use it but on how well we protect it," Song said. "Even if use of the Arctic becomes unavoidable, we need to act together with the international community in line with global principles such as environmental protection and safety."
The assembly, held in Reykjavik every October since 2013, is the world's largest international conference on the Arctic. This year it drew about 2,000 participants from more than 70 countries, including representatives of governments, international organizations, academia, industry and indigenous communities.