South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 12th that the expulsion of Japanese survey ships sailing into the southeastern waters of Jeju the previous day was a legitimate law enforcement act by the South Korean Maritime Police Agency.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choi Young-soo said at a regular press conference on the same day that because Japanese ships sailed into South Korea’s exclusive economic sea area for investigation, South Korea carried out normal law enforcement activities in the sea area in accordance with international law and relevant laws.
According to Japanese media reports, the survey ship “Akiyo” of the Japan Maritime Security Agency was warned by the South Korean Maritime Police Agency to stop its investigation activities through wireless communication during its maritime investigation activities at about 3:25 a.m.
on the 11th, southwest of the Gojima Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. .
After approaching the Zhaoyang, the ship of the South Korean Maritime Police said that this is South Korea’s territorial waters, and Japan must obtain the consent of the South Korean government before it can carry out a marine scientific investigation.
However, the Japanese side believed that they were investigating activities in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and confronted the South Korean coast guard ship at the scene.
Later, they also protested to the South Korean government through diplomatic channels.
It is understood that the maritime area of investigation activities of Japanese survey ships is located in the overlapping sea area within 200 nautical miles from the islands of South Korea and Japan.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the relevant countries can exercise their rights independently within 200 nautical miles along the coast of their own.
When the maritime areas between neighboring countries overlap, they can be resolved through consultation. Question.
