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Korean, Chinese coast guards face off in disputed Yellow Sea zone

Published: 18 Mar. 2025, 17:56

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

The 1,422-ton Onnuri, a marine research vessel of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries [MINISTRY OF OCEANS AND FISHERIES]

China recently blocked the Korean government’s investigation of steel structures erected in the disputed Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) of the Yellow Sea, resulting in a standoff between the coast guards of the two countries.

The Korean government sent the 1,422-ton RV Onnuri, a marine research vessel from the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, to the PMZ at around 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 to inspect steel structures erected without permission by China, according to government sources on Tuesday.

The Korean government also asked the Coast Guard to help.

When the Onnuri approached within one kilometer of the steel structures, the Chinese Coast Guard and civilians in three rubber boats approached the Onnuri and blocked the deployment of investigation equipment, according to sources. The Korean Coast Guard, which was on standby, rushed a patrol vessel to the scene, where it confronted the Chinese Coast Guard for about two hours.

During the standoff between the two coast guards, the Chinese side reportedly said the facility was a fish farm and asked the Koreans to withdraw, while the Korean side insisted that they were “conducting a legitimate investigation.”

At the time, the Chinese civilians on the rubber boats were carrying knives, but it is reported that they did not brandish weapons during the standoff.

In the end, it appears the Korean side stepped back without conducting an inspection.

The PMZ is an area of the Yellow Sea where the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Korea and China overlap, where fishing boats from both countries fish together, and the governments of both countries jointly manage fishery resources. Anything other than navigation and fishing is prohibited.

However, as China has recently installed mobile steel structures with diameters and heights of several tens of meters in the area, suspicions are being raised that this is an attempt to create grounds for a "claim of sovereignty."

China reportedly installed two structures in April and May last year and one more early this year. The Chinese side claims the structures are for fish farming.

“The Korean government has actively responded at the government level to ensure our legitimate and legal maritime rights in the Yellow Sea are not affected,” an official from Korea's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. "We have also conveyed our firm position to the Chinese side regarding the reported incident.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]