Kang Ki-seok

Kang helped forge a new route on Mount Everest and was considered one of Korea's most promising mountaineers of his generation.

The next year, in May 2009, Shin Dong-min and Kang joined with Park Young-seok to make the first successful ascent of the "Korean Route" on the southwest face of Everest.

[1] When asked by a reporter what book he brought on his climb, Kang replied, Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

In 2010, Korean alpinist Park Young-seok organized an alpine-style attempt on an unclimbed line in Annapurna between two pillars established by previous British and Japanese expeditions.

In 2011, Kang and expedition partners Park Young-seok and Shin Dong-min returned to Annapurna's south face in an attempt to pioneer the 'Korea New Route'.

[5] The team chose to climb in October, which is considered late in the season, in an attempt to avoid avalanches and rockfalls.

[19] In 2016, Kang Ki-seok was posthumously honored with the 'Alumni Who Made the Alma Mater Shine' award by the Andong National University Alumni Association.

[20] That year, a documentary was released, covering a memorial climb to Annapurna by the family members of the missing climbers.