‘First Asian woman’ mountaineer Kim Young-mi succeeds in completing the South Pole solo without support

On January 16, 2023, Kim Young-mi, the representative female mountaineer of South Korea, accomplished the solo trek to the South Pole, reaching the southernmost point without any intermediate resupply, while pulling a sled weighing 100kg. Departing from Hercules Inlet on the western side of the Antarctic continent on November 27, 2022, it took her 50 days, 11 hours, and 37 minutes to achieve this remarkable feat.

Having started her mountaineering journey with the ascent of the Himalayas in 2003, Kim Young-mi became the youngest South Korean to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents by 2008, following a successful ascent of Mount Everest. In 2013, she achieved the remarkable feat of summiting the world's highest peaks in the Himalayas, including Annapurna I, in alpine style.

Reflecting on her unprecedented journey to the South Pole, Kim Young-mi expressed, "I don't know how I came this far, pulling a sled weighing over 1,000 km. It feels like a dream story overnight. There were cold and windy days, times when it was cloudy and I was hungry, but looking back, there were far more clear and warm days." Her challenging and beautiful journey to leave footprints on Antarctica will be documented in a forthcoming documentary.