South Korea Tests Arctic Shipping Route to Europe

By Brenda Goh and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) – South Korea will flag off on Saturday a container ship bound for Europe via the Arctic, testing whether a route opened by melting sea ice can be commercially viable, but risking friction with Western allies, as the voyage requires Russian cooperation.

If successful, the trip would be South Korea’s first such commercial voyage to Europe via the Arctic, placing it with China and Russia among the few countries whose shipping firms have tested or run cargo services along the route.

Sailing north from the port of Busan, the