Lost polar researchers found alive
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- Four of five missing South Korean scientists were rescued in Antarctica following a freezing swim to shore after their boat capsized near the country's polar research station, officials said.
The fifth scientist died. It was not immediately clear how.
"We are trying our best to bring the body to South Korea as soon as possible," a Foreign Ministry official said.
Antarctic research teams from around the world joined the rescue effort for the five and another group of three South Koreans whose boats overturned in bitter weather at the weekend.
The drama began when three scientists went missing on Sunday as they were returning to South Korea's polar research base on King George Island after seeing off 24 colleagues returning to Seoul, officials and local media said.
A second vessel carrying five people left to search for them and also disappeared. King George Island lies between the Antarctic peninsula and the tip of South America.
"The search team has found the three missing thanks to the fine weather," said Kim on Tuesday, referring to the first group. He said a Chilean air force helicopter crew had located them on a nearby island.
"The three have been transferred to a Chilean air force hospital," he said. One was ill but the others were well.
A Russian patrol then found the group that had set out to rescue the first team, on another nearby island.
The four survivors managed to swim ashore and took shelter in a hut used for temporary shelter, an official at the Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute said by telephone.
The other group of three made it to land in their vessel.
South Korea has stationed scientists in Antarctica since it established the research center in 1982 to study environmental conditions. In the same area are bases belonging to Uruguay, Brazil, Germany, the Czech Republic, China, Argentina and Chile.
Seoul had appealed to countries with bases in the area to help with the rescue.
South Korea's King Sejong Station -- named for a 15th-century Korean monarch -- is located on the Barton Peninsula on King George Island, and scientists consider it a major strategic point to study the behavior of energy particles from space as they hit the earth's magnetic field.
It is also well located for studying how the land masses of the continent have evolved.
The station runs two major expeditions -- one in the Antarctic summer and the other through the winter -- to study weather, the ocean and wildlife near the base and further afield.
The summer team is comprised of up to 50 researchers from the institute and scientists from universities and research bodies.
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