Japan "Korean Coast Guard Demands Suspension of Japanese Marine Survey in Southern Waters of Jeju Island"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 30th, NHK and others reported, citing the Japan Coast Guard, that the Korean Coast Guard demanded the suspension of an ocean survey being conducted by a Japan Coast Guard survey vessel in the southern waters of Jeju Island.

According to the report, the Japan Coast Guard survey vessel "Heiyo" was conducting an ocean survey around 3 p.m. the previous day in waters approximately 110 km northwest of the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (southern waters of Jeju Island). In response, the Korean Coast Guard radioed the survey vessel, stating, "Surveying in Korean waters is illegal. Cease the survey and leave immediately."

The Japanese survey vessel replied, according to the Japan Coast Guard, that it was a "legitimate survey within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)" and told the Korean side to "stop demanding the immediate suspension of the survey and leave."

The Japanese survey vessel appears to have conducted the ocean survey in waters where the EEZs established by Korea and Japan overlap. The EEZ is a maritime zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea where a country exercises exclusive rights over resources up to 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from its coast. In the case of Korea and Japan, since the EEZ boundaries have not been delineated, conflicts over ocean surveys continue in the South Sea and East Sea.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested to the Korean side through diplomatic channels regarding the Korean Coast Guard's demand to suspend the survey, stating that it was a "survey within Japan's EEZ."

NHK reported that the survey period of the Japanese survey vessel Heiyo in the southern waters of Jeju Island, which began on the 18th, is scheduled to continue until the 30th of next month, and the survey will proceed as planned.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.