South Korea should prepare to defend Ieodo research station > 언론 속 이어도

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South Korea should prepare to defend Ieodo research station

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By Kang Byeong-cheol

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In 1996 and 2003 China officially protested South Korea’s construction of its ocean research station on Ieodo. Korea defended the construction for the reason that Ieodo is located inside the Korean exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The construction and operation of the ocean research station has been the de facto occupation and utilization of the underwater rock for the generation of scientific and technological ocean data and information for all nations. Ieodo will herald a new epoch concerning the rocks and islets in international politics and the United Nations on the Law of the Sea.

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The EEZ is expanding the sea territory of the coastal state. China may still claim 200 nautical miles from its baseline, but that figure is not plausible, as the East China Sea is not expansive enough to accommodate China and Korea’s 200 nautical miles from the opposite coastal line. Neither the Yellow Sea nor the West Sea is big enough to accommodate the claims of both nations.

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China has not given up its ambition on the sea where Ieodo is located. Hu Jintao’s state visit to Korea in 2007 silenced China’s claim over Ieodo. I wonder whether China’s silence is going to last long. China and Korea have not yet settled their sea boundary in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. Therefore, the two nations have a turbulent sea in between them. Korea should prepare for the defense of the Ieodo Ocean Research Station intellectually, legally and ethically.

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Kang Byeong-cheol is a researcher at Society of Ieodo Research.