Seoul: South Korea has set up a floating structure in the overlapping waters with China in the Yellow Sea as a countermeasure to the latter's recent installation of a steel structure in the area, Seoul's oceans minister said Wednesday. "We have taken countermeasures by (installing) a large and stationary floating structure there to start an environmental investigation in the area," Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kang Do-hyung stated during a parliamentary legislative committee meeting.
According to Yonhap News Agency, last month, the two countries faced a two-hour standoff as Chinese authorities blocked Seoul's attempt to investigate Beijing's construction of a steel structure in the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ) near Ieo Island, off South Korea's southwest coast. The PMZ is an area where the Exclusive Economic Zones of South Korea and China overlap. The two sides are allowed to operate fishing vessels there and jointly manage marine resources, with any activities beyond navigation and fishing being prohibited in the area.
Despite the agreement, China has installed several large steel structures in the zone, including one in April and another in May of last year, along with another installation earlier this year, claiming they are for aqua farming purposes. Kang emphasized that the government is monitoring Chinese activities in the PMZ closely and is conducting marine science research and studies on the characteristics of the Chinese structure.
Seoul's foreign ministry has stated that it is collaborating with related government agencies to secure South Korea's legitimate maritime rights and interests in the Yellow Sea. The ministry has also addressed its concerns in a meeting with the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.