President Lee Jae Myung has made Arctic shipping a priority, and officials hope to launch regular services by 2030.
The route runs along Russia’s Arctic coast, and Seoul consulted with Moscow about the journey, including whether the ship needed help to tackle any problems, such as getting stuck in ice.
China - which considers itself as a ‘near-arctic state’ - has already used the Arctic route, and Beijing has been celebrating it for years, despite the warning by environmental scientists.