The Korea National Oil Corporation says it will begin drilling for natural gas at two locations off the southeast coast next month. The areas are near the Donghae No. 1 Gas Field, which began the nation's first-ever pumping of liquefied natural gas last week.

The state-run oil firm said Thursday that it decided to drill sea-bottom mine areas some five kilometers north and ten kilometers south of the Donghae No. 1 gas field after determining a high likelihood of additional gas deposits in the vicinity.

The oil corporation said that it would take about one month after exploration to confirm the existence and potential pumping capacity of any gas deposits.

The Donghae No.1 field, which was discovered in 1998, is estimated to have gas deposits of some five million tons.