Gov`t to confirm report on Chinese claim to S.Korean island

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry will call in a Chinese Embassy official in Seoul on Monday to confirm a media report that a ranking Beijing official recently claimed Chinese sovereignty over Ieo Island, a submerged rock near Jeju Island.

A ministry source said Sunday, “The ministry will call in the chief of political affairs at the embassy to confirm if such comments were made,” adding, “After checking how and on what grounds the comments were made through an interview with the Foreign Ministry, the government will determine the direction of its response.”

Chinese Ambassador to Korea Zhang Xinsen will also visit the ministry for a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin on Monday. The ministry said, however, that Zhang’s visit is unrelated to the island issue since the talks were arranged in advance by the two sides to discuss China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Seoul, and preparation for the 20th anniversary of South Korea-China ties.

In an interview with the Beijing-based Xinhua News Agency on March 3, Liu Xigui, chief of China`s State Oceanic Administration, claimed that Ieo is in waters under Chinese control and part of an area regularly patrolled by Chinese vessels and aircraft.

Seoul judges the move as being part of Beijing’s hard-line stance toward oceanic territory and not as China`s response to South Korea`s stern position on Chinese repatriation of defectors.

lightee@donga.com