It turned out that in the early morning of the 11th, a Korean maritime lighter on the southeast coast of Jeju Island demanded the eviction of a Japanese ship that was conducting surveying activities and confronted it. There are concerns that the ruling on the 8th may create another element of conflict in the relationship between Korea and Japan, which worsened.
According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, at 3:25 am on the 11th, a ship belonging to the Korean Maritime Police Agency directed the Japanese Maritime Security Agency’s survey ship, Shoyo, to stop investigating by radio. The Korean coastline approached the Japanese survey ship and informed them that “this is the Korean territorial waters, and the prior consent of the Korean government is required for scientific investigation, so immediately stop the investigation.” However, the Japanese side did not respond to the request by claiming that it was “a legitimate investigation activity within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).” .
The place is known to be a sea 139 km west of Mesima in the southwest of the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. This is a water area where the EEZs of Korea and Japan (200 nautical miles from their own territory) overlap, and both countries can claim the exclusive right of resources. The United Nations Maritime Law mandates mutual consultation in the case of overlapping waters of the EEZ between neighboring countries, so conflict between the countries concerned frequently occurs. In August of last year, Korean maritime ships demanded the suspension of the Japanese surveyor Heiyo, a Japanese surveyor who began its investigation here, and the Japanese government protested. Immediately after the incident, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered the intention to protest to the Korean Embassy in Japan, saying, “Korea has interfered with legitimate surveying activities in its own EEZ.” It is reported that our diplomatic authorities responded directly to this, saying that “the law was enforced in the waters under our jurisdiction.”
The Maritime Security Administration is known to continue its investigation activities until next month, so it cannot rule out the possibility of further conflict. Japanese Minister Kato Katsunobu said at a press conference on the morning of the 12th, “Because the investigation was conducted in Japan’s EEZ, we cannot accept the request from South Korea to suspend it.”
As the diplomatic conflict between Korea and Japan has spread to maritime conflicts, some are concerned that the expansion of the war that took place in 2018 will be reproduced as it is. In October of that year, the Japanese government protested that a Korean destroyer was investigating the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft with a radar for fire control in December, and the Korean court’s ruling in favor of the forced conscription victim came out. At the time, the Korean government refuted that the Japanese patrol aircraft approached its destroyer and made a threat flight. South Korea and Japan are in an atmosphere of opposition again when our court recently ruled in favor of a lawsuit for damages filed by victims of comfort women against the Japanese government. The two governments are trying to create an atmosphere of dialogue, such as changing ambassadors at the same time, but there is a pessimistic prospect that it will be difficult to reverse the situation for the time being.
[안정훈 기자 / 고보현 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]