Abstract
South Korea is blessed with a huge exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of oceans and coastal areas where we have developed human activities and present economical progress. Coastal oceans, wetlands and tidal flats have been reduced owing to increasing reclamation. Also, the shortage of freshwater is serious in South Korea. Accordingly, the government started to utilize deep ocean water (DOW) in 2000. Afterwards, infrastructures including the deep ocean water research center and the shore based facility were established in 2005. A five-year project, funded by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of Korea, began in Kosung using two types of DOWs pumped at a rate of 1,100 tons per day from depths of 300 m and 500 m and pooled into large tanks. Also, surface water is separately taken from the coast nearby. In addition, Ulleung-do deep ocean water factory owned by a private company, Panaburu, pumped 3,000 tons of DOW per day from a depth of 1,500 m through a pipe of 7,500 m in length. DOW is used for research and development of various purposes in South Korea.
