Interagency meeting held to discuss maritime zone row with China

South Korea held an interagency government meeting Tuesday to discuss the recent maritime issues with China, including Beijing’s installment of structures and designation of a no-sail zone in overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea, the foreign ministry said.

The meeting was led by Kang Young-shin, director-general for Northeast and Central Asian affairs at the ministry, joined by officials from the oceans and defense ministries and other relevant agencies, the foreign ministry said in a release.

The meeting came after South Korea expressed concerns to the neighboring country over the designation of a no-sail zone in the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ), an area where their exclusive economic zones overlap.

Seoul and Beijing have agreed to draw the PMZ line as a tentative measure to allow fishing vessels to operate safely and jointly manage marine resources in the area, while prohibiting activities beyond navigation and fishing.

However, China’s installation of two semi-submersible buoys in 2018 and 2024 and a fixed steel structure in 2022 in the PMZ has heightened tensions between the two countries.

Beijing’s actions have fueled speculation that it may be laying the groundwork to assert future territorial claims in the area.

“Participants discussed recent developments in the Yellow Sea, including China’s unilateral actions within the overlapping maritime zone,” the ministry said.

“The government will continue to closely monitor movements in the Yellow Sea through close interagency coordination and will actively respond to ensure that our legitimate rights and interests are not undermined,” it added.

During their bilateral dialogue on the issue last month, China proposed that South Korean officials pay an on-site visit to the structures.

“We’re reviewing (the proposal) internally and in communication with the Chinese side about it,” Lee Jae-woong, ministry spokesperson, said in a press briefing.

China has not reported its designation of the no-sail zone to Japan, the regional coordinator of the International Maritime Organization, the special U.N. agency on maritime security. But it’s not a requirement under international standards.

In February, the two countries engaged in a standoff in the PMZ near South Korea’s west coast, when Chinese authorities blocked a South Korean ship from inspecting the Chinese steel structure in the area. China insisted it was a commercial fish farm that Seoul had no right to search.

South Korea has said it is not ruling out the option of taking a reciprocal measure in response to the installation of the structures.