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China urged an early resumption of official maritime demarcation talks with South Korea during a summit in Seoul on Friday, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said Monday, sparking concerns that the talks could rekindle the dispute over Ieodo, a rock in the East China Sea.
The ministry revealed its proposal in a press release on its website. Seoul did not mention the proposal in its announcement of the outcome of the summit, which was held on the sidelines of the trilateral summit that also involved Japan.
Beijing’s proposal came at a delicate juncture when Seoul has been under increasing pressure to clarify its stance over China’s moves to turn rocks and reefs in the South China Sea into artificial islands that would potentially be used for military purposes.
Observers say that should the talks proceed, the dispute over Ieodo – which is submerged but acts as the base for a South Korean research station -- in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries, could resurface to the detriment of the bilateral relationship.
The EEZ is a sea zone over which a country has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches out to 200 nautical miles from the coastline.
During a bilateral summit last July, the two sides agreed to reopen negotiations over the EEZs this year. In January, they held consultations in Shanghai to prepare for the negotiations. They plan to hold director general-level preparatory consultations on Nov. 16.
Since 1996, the two sides have held more than a dozen rounds of talks over the EEZ, but no agreement has been reached. Seoul has demanded that the EEZ be demarcated by drawing a median line, while Beijing argues that the coasts and the population along them must be taken into account in EEZ demarcation.
Ieodo is 4.6 meters below sea level south of Jejudo Island and has long been a source of tension between the two neighbors.
Although a reef cannot be the subject of territorial dispute under U.N. maritime law, the Seoul government believes that the rock belongs to it as the reef and its adjoining waters are part of its continental shelf.
In 2003, Seoul built the Ocean Research Station on Ieodo to measure ocean currents and accumulate data for weather forecasting, fishery and environmental protection, and prevention of natural disasters such as tidal waves and tropical storms.
China calls Korea’s activities on the rock illegal.
In 2012, a Chinese senior official was reported to have renewed a jurisdictional claim to the rock, rekindling the dispute over Ieodo. The official was said to have claimed that it would be included in areas subject to China’s surveillance and patrol.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
Beijing’s proposal came at a delicate juncture when Seoul has been under increasing pressure to clarify its stance over China’s moves to turn rocks and reefs in the South China Sea into artificial islands that would potentially be used for military purposes.
Observers say that should the talks proceed, the dispute over Ieodo – which is submerged but acts as the base for a South Korean research station -- in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries, could resurface to the detriment of the bilateral relationship.
The EEZ is a sea zone over which a country has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources. It stretches out to 200 nautical miles from the coastline.
During a bilateral summit last July, the two sides agreed to reopen negotiations over the EEZs this year. In January, they held consultations in Shanghai to prepare for the negotiations. They plan to hold director general-level preparatory consultations on Nov. 16.
Since 1996, the two sides have held more than a dozen rounds of talks over the EEZ, but no agreement has been reached. Seoul has demanded that the EEZ be demarcated by drawing a median line, while Beijing argues that the coasts and the population along them must be taken into account in EEZ demarcation.
Ieodo is 4.6 meters below sea level south of Jejudo Island and has long been a source of tension between the two neighbors.
Although a reef cannot be the subject of territorial dispute under U.N. maritime law, the Seoul government believes that the rock belongs to it as the reef and its adjoining waters are part of its continental shelf.
In 2003, Seoul built the Ocean Research Station on Ieodo to measure ocean currents and accumulate data for weather forecasting, fishery and environmental protection, and prevention of natural disasters such as tidal waves and tropical storms.
China calls Korea’s activities on the rock illegal.
In 2012, a Chinese senior official was reported to have renewed a jurisdictional claim to the rock, rekindling the dispute over Ieodo. The official was said to have claimed that it would be included in areas subject to China’s surveillance and patrol.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
