Pohang Mayor Park Yong-seon (right) meets with Arctic Economic Council Chair Aviaja Kalhøj Knudsen at Lahan Hotel Pohang on Friday to discuss plans to develop Yeongil Bay Port as a hub for Arctic shipping routes and expand practical cooperation. [Pohang City]
Pohang Mayor Park Yong-seon (right) meets with Arctic Economic Council Chair Aviaja Kalhøj Knudsen at Lahan Hotel Pohang on Friday to discuss plans to develop Yeongil Bay Port as a hub for Arctic shipping routes and expand practical cooperation. [Pohang City]

Pohang Mayor Park Yong-seon met with Aviaja Kalhøj Knudsen, chair of the Arctic Economic Council (AEC), on Friday at Lahan Hotel Pohang to discuss cooperation on developing Yeongil Bay Port as a hub for Arctic shipping routes. Knudsen was in Korea to attend the 2026 World Green Growth Forum (WGGF).

The meeting follows a memorandum of understanding Pohang signed with the AEC in December last year and the city's participation in the Arctic Frontiers Conference held in Tromsø, Norway, in February.

The AEC, established in 2014 and headquartered in Tromsø, is an economic cooperation body for the Arctic region. Private companies and major institutions from eight Arctic nations participate across a range of sectors — including maritime transport, ports, energy and climate response — to advance Arctic business cooperation.

At the meeting, Pohang presented its vision for transforming from a steel-centered industrial city into an eco-friendly green industrial city, anchored by a hydrogen fuel cell cluster and a secondary battery national advanced strategic industry complex.

The city also emphasized expanding cooperation with the AEC to develop Yeongil Bay Port into a key hub for the future Arctic route era, and discussed cooperation plans with the Norwegian city of Tromsø, with which Pohang confirmed an intent to exchange in February.

Pohang requested Knudsen's support for inter-city exchange and cooperation across various fields — including eco-friendly energy, robotics and marine science and technology — drawing on the city's research and development capabilities.

As a means of putting the MOU signed last year into practice, the city also proposed dispatching municipal civil servants and local university students to the AEC secretariat in Tromsø.

Knudsen responded positively to the proposals on expanding people-to-people exchanges, Arctic route cooperation and inter-city ties with Tromsø, pledging to maintain ongoing communication and collaboration.

"We will push forward concrete cooperation projects — including joint forums and people-to-people exchanges — without a hitch, and elevate Pohang into a global maritime city leading the Arctic route era," Park said.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com