Chinese News Agencies Claim West Sea is Another Controversial Area

In the midst of a standoff between Korea and China due to a controversial Goguryo history problem, West Sea (黃海, Yellow Sea in China) has come up as another controversial issue between the two countries.

China Youth Daily insisted on August 5 that West Sea is one of the controversial sea areas.

The newspaper quoted Chun Kwang-chi, researcher at the China Marine Forces Academic Research Institute, who said that China’s marine belt reaches three million square km set by the U.N. convention of the Law of the Sea in 1982, but that one million square km of it is subject to a sovereignty dispute with Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

The newspaper, in particular, reproduced the newest issue of the Yomang Dongbang Weekly and said that applying the rule of equidistance lines to West Sea, encompassing 380,000 square km as Korea maintains, will result in a marine belt of 180,000 square km added to the jurisdiction of the two Koreas. It also asserted that China should set 250,000 square km of West Sea as its jurisdiction.

In addition, it added that China should make diplomatic and military efforts to preserve its marine sovereignty and sea resources.

Earlier, Chinese official news agency Shinhwa reported that Korea launched an oil exploration expedition last month at the second West Sea mine concession, 250 km apart from Gunsan as the crow flies, and pointed out that the spot is only 50 km away from the central line of China’s continental shelf.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com