[Opinion] The Malacca Straits

A saying in the British navy goes: “The Strait of Dover, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Strait of Malacca are the five keys to controlling the world.” Among the five, the Malacca Strait, which links the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, is a point of strategic importance for Northeast Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan. For example, 80 percent of crude oil transportation in China and Japan, and 99 percent in Korea come through this sea passage. Given today’s global economic status, the Malacca Strait is the most important key of all.

The Malacca Strait is an international sea route that stretches 900 kilometers long, 65-249 kilometers wide, and 25-27 meters deep on average between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. It carries more than 50,000 vessels per year, and the number of oil tankers it carries is as much as three times that of the Suez Canal, and five times that of the Panama Strait. The name Malacca originates from the Malacca Kingdom, which enjoyed prosperity with east-west trade, capitalizing on its geopolitical advantages during the 15th century. Since then, it has been dominated by Portugal in the 16th century, the Netherlands in the 17th, and Britain and other western maritime powers in the 18th as a gateway to occupying Asia. Also, it was established as a bridgehead by Japan to advance into Northeast Asia during WWII.

As the risk of security as well as its importance grew, Japan and China has long been looking for ways to detour the Strait of Malacca. This means creating an “Asian Panama Canal” in Kra, the southern part of Thailand. The construction of the Kra Canal, as short as 100 kilometers, can reduce the travel route by 1,200 kilometers and two to five days of travel time. This was a joint project between Japan, China, and Thailand, but it has been halted for the moment due to the construction cost of more than $20 billion. China has come up with an alternative of importing Middle Eastern crude through an overland route in August. The Chinese government, by building a 1,700-kilometer railway in Myanmar, signed an agreement with the Myanmar government to build a transportation route that links the Indian Ocean, Myanmar, and China.

Recently, the Korean National Maritime Police Agency had joint training in preparation for maritime terrorism with the Malay maritime police in the Strait of Malacca. The Malacca Strait is known to be a hotbed for pirates because it accounts for 35 percent of all maritime crimes in the world, and particularly since 9/11, it has been cited as the most terrorism-prone region likely to be attacked by Islam terrorists like Al Qaeda. Considering the importance of the Malacca Strait and the movement of its neighboring nations, it is time for the strengthening of the Korean naval force rather than maritime police joint training.

Hwang Yoo-soung, Beijing correspondent, yshwang@donga.com