SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea expressed “deep concern” over China erecting a sea structure off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula during a maritime dialogue with Beijing in Seoul on Wednesday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.
The Chinese side during the meeting had explained that the structure was fish-farming equipment and had nothing to do with territorial rights, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The structure in a disputed area of the Yellow Sea, known in South Korea as the West Sea, has raised alarm bells in Seoul over concerns China could be seeking to stake claims in the Provisional Maritime Zone, where the countries’ exclusive economic zones overlap.
Both sides agreed to continue communication and with the understanding that the issue should not hinder bilateral relations, the ministry said.
“Through diplomatic channels at various levels, it was decided to closely discuss the stable management of the maritime order in the West Sea and the expansion and deepening of tangible cooperation,” the statement said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that Seoul was mulling its response, including proportional countermeasures.
“The structure is within both Chinese and international law and does not violate the China-South Korea fisheries agreement,” the Chinese embassy in Seoul said in a statement last month.
Wednesday’s bilateral meeting on maritime cooperation was attended by officials from the foreign ministries of both countries alongside other officials.
Kang Young-shin, South Korea’s Deputy Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs, and China’s Director-General for Boundary and Ocean Affairs Hong Liang represented each side, according to Seoul’s ministry.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies)
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