S. Korea, China hold maritime talks amid tensions over steel structures in Yellow Sea

South Korea and China held a working-level maritime dialogue in Seoul on Wednesday, diplomatic sources said, as tensions are building up over a set of steel structures Beijing has installed in their overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea.

The talks come after the two countries engaged in a standoff in February in the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ) near South Korea’s southwest coast, when Chinese authorities blocked a South Korean ship from inspecting a steel structure China installed in the area.

The PMZ covers an overlapping sea zone in their maritime boundaries, known as the Exclusive Economic Zones. The two countries signed an agreement in 2000 to allow their fishing vessels to operate there and jointly manage marine resources, while prohibiting any activities beyond navigation and fishing.

China insisted it was a commercial fish farm that Seoul had no right to search.

China installed two semi-submersible buoys in 2018 and 2024 in the PMZ. It also built a fixed steel structure in 2022, believed to be a repurposed decommissioned oil rig.

Beijing claims the two floating installations are fish farms to grow salmon, and the fixed structure, equipped with a helicopter landing pad, was built as an aquaculture management facility.

However, China’s installations of the structures, potentially in violation of the agreement, has prompted Seoul to address the issue more assertively, given China’s track record of territorial disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea and with Japan in the East China Sea.

At Wednesday’s talks, Seoul was expected to raise the issue to reinforce its calls for ensuring stability in the PMZ. Seoul has stressed that no Chinese activities in the overlapping waters should affect its “legitimate and lawful” maritime rights.

On Monday, Oceans Minister Kang Do-hyung said that relevant government agencies are reviewing all possible options, including reciprocal measures, to address the issue.

“We are taking this matter very seriously, especially from the standpoint of the importance of the issue and the need to defend our maritime territory,” Kang said in a press briefing.

“We are reviewing a wide range of possible responses, including proportional measures … that can be effectively implemented,” he said.

Kang said earlier that the government will begin the process to allocate a budget to install an aquaculture facility as a countermeasure.

On Monday, Kang said that no decision has been made yet.