KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The 2024 International Geological Congress (IGC) was successfully held at BEXCO, Busan from August 26 to 30. IGC is the most prestigious academic conference in the field of geology, and it was co-hosted by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), the Geological Society of Korea and Busan Metropolitan City.

KIGAM operated the exhibition booth with the theme of ‘Unraveling the secrets of the Earth and re-imagining the future’ and provided various information and attractions to both geologists and the general public. In particular, it provided easy-to-understand content on KIGAM’s main research, such as geological disasters, climate change, new geological materials and resource utilization, as well as the six critical minerals, space resources and Tamhae III, the ocean research vessel, which are being conducted as key research topics.

Meanwhile, 74 registered abstracts by KIGAM researchers led to academic sessions filled with presentations and discussions on the overall geology, including earth and space geology, mineral resources, marine geology, geological disasters and climate change research. In particular, the special session ‘Moon Resources: Exploration, Utilization, and Sustainability’ demonstrated the will to lead the field of space resource exploration, and the ‘Active Tectonics/Earthquake Geology/Active Faults’ topic showcased research results on large earthquakes and efforts to prepare for them.

Dr. Lee, the president of KIGAM, said “Through IGC 2024, we expect that this will be an opportunity to introduce KIGAM and Korea’s excellent research results in geology to the world, while also announcing the start of a new meme called K-Geoscience.” He added, “All employees of KIGAM will continue to do their best to elevate Korea’s status as a national representative in the field of geoscience and to contribute to the sustainable development of the earth.”