Greenland is about 80 percent ice-capped and, until the 1940s, was a protected, isolated society. Yet, today, the growing geopolitical and geoeconomic focus on the Arctic Circle has made the world’s largest island a major prize for powers including China, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

As the region’s melting ice caps expose unclaimed oceans and lands, what has been called a modern gold rush has commenced over Arctic territory, natural resources and strategic position. The economic value of this is obvious, although the geopolitical dimension is also key given the Arctic’s critical location between North America and Eurasia.

In this context, the more than 810,000-square-mile Greenland is an increasingly prominent player with huge potential. This is not least as it boasts the world’s most northernmost territory off its coast, the closest point of land to the North Pole.

In recent decades, the autonomous territory that Greenland has become, with a small population of less than 60,000, has gone from direct Danish rule to much greater independence. Today, Denmark, one of the 27 EU states and a NATO member, retains only powers of monetary and foreign policy.

One sign of Greenland’s growing prominence came in 2019 when then-U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of buying the huge island. This was dismissed by........

© The Korea Times