The Korea Polar Data Center (KPDC) is dedicated to managing various types of data acquired during scientific research that South Korea carries out in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. South Korea, as an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party (ATCP), and an accredited member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), established the center in 2003 as part of its effort to contribute to the joint international Antarctic research.

In 2010, South Korea formulated the “Master-plan for Polar Data Center of South Korea” in order to establish its own data center. Since then, ongoing efforts are being made to construct a solid digital data management system. This is being accomplished through developing and operating a meta data management system, implementing a data management system for each individual research area, and by enacting and implementing polar data management infrastructure policies.

In 2012, KPDC has pushed forward by providing training courses and raising awareness, targeting researchers participating in polar studies so as to increase efficiency of data management based on the established system and infrastructure. KPDC has also established the schemes for data back up and storage of acquired digital data to be safely managed and permanently stored in its own system. Furthermore, KPDC has contributed to the international society’s polar research by sharing the internally obtained data and experiences with concerned parties from Korea and other countries. In 2017, KPDC reorganized the overall data sharing system to improve the accessibility and convenience for those who utilize the polar data, along with the efforts for advancing the related systems supported by the specialized IT consulting.

The KPDC plans to develop and operate the Portal Service for Polar Data to provide comprehensive and various information in order to provide researchers easy access through efficient management and distribution. KPDC also aims to expand and continually upgrade its infrastructure for safe management and storage of the data, as well as the systematic tools for the comprehensive management of data obtained from the diverse research fields of the polar regions.