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Interagency meeting held to discuss maritime zone row with China

Published: 27 May. 2025, 19:00

One of the large steel structures installed by China in the Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone in the Yellow Sea. China claims it is a deep-sea aquaculture facility. [OFFICE OF REP. EOM TAE-YOUNG]

Korea held an interagency government meeting Tuesday to discuss the recent maritime issues with China, including Beijing's installment of structures and designation of a no-sail zone in overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The meeting was led by Kang Young-shin, director-general for Northeast and Central Asian affairs at the ministry, joined by officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of National Defense and other relevant agencies, the foreign ministry said in a release.

The meeting came after Korea expressed concerns to the neighboring country regarding the designation of a no-sail zone in the Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ), an area where their exclusive economic zones overlap.

Seoul and Beijing have agreed to draw the PMZ line as a tentative measure to allow fishing vessels to operate safely and jointly manage marine resources in the area while prohibiting activities beyond navigation and fishing.

However, China's installation of two semisubmersible buoys in 2018 and 2024 and a fixed steel structure in 2022 in the PMZ has heightened tensions between the two countries.

Beijing's actions have fueled speculation that it may be laying the groundwork to assert future territorial claims in the area.

One of the large steel structures installed by China in the Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone in the Yellow Sea. China claims it is a deep-sea aquaculture facility. [OFFICE OF REP. EOM TAE-YOUNG]

“Participants discussed recent developments in the Yellow Sea, including China's unilateral actions within the overlapping maritime zone,” the ministry said.

“The government will continue to closely monitor movements in the Yellow Sea through close interagency coordination and will actively respond to ensure that our legitimate rights and interests are not undermined,” it added.

During their bilateral dialogue on the issue last month, China proposed that Korean officials pay an on-site visit to the structures.

“We're reviewing (the proposal) internally and in communication with the Chinese side about it,” Lee Jae-woong, a ministry spokesperson, said in a press briefing.

"Shenlan No. 2," which China installed last year in the Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone in the Yellow Sea [OFFICE OF REP. EOM TAE-YOUNG]

China has not reported its designation of the no-sail zone to Japan, the regional coordinator of the International Maritime Organization, the special United Nations agency on maritime security. But it's not a requirement under international standards.

In February, the two countries engaged in a standoff in the PMZ near Korea's west coast, when Chinese authorities blocked a Korean ship from inspecting the Chinese steel structure in the area. China insisted it was a commercial fish farm that Seoul had no right to search.

Korea has said it is not ruling out the option of reciprocal measures in response to the installation of the structures.

Yonhap