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In early April 2019, the Philippines protested the presence of more than two hundred Chinese vessels that since January had blocked Sandy Cay, a disputed area near a Philippine-occupied island called Pagasa in the Spratly Islands. At the same time, Vietnam lodged an official protest against Chinese maritime surveillance vessels that chased and fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat in the disputed waters around the Paracel Islands. These incidents once again have raised questions about the legality of China’s use of its maritime militia to enforce its claims in the South China Sea. Vietnam has built its own militia to… Read More »Maritime Militias in the South China Sea

The spotlight on South Korean security typically shines brightest on concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs along with its large conventional forces. Often overlooked are the many maritime issues and security challenges that the Republic of Korea (ROK) faces. Indeed, a cursory look at a map provides a stark reminder that, when including the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as a hard border, South Korea is essentially an “island” with over 2,400 kilometers of coastline. Moreover, in 2018, 44% of the ROK economy was derived from exports that are carried mostly over sea by container ship.[1] Thus, it should… Read More »South Korea: The Challenges of a Maritime Nation

According to several people familiar with the incident, on August 31, 2018, the 19,500-ton British amphibious transport vessel the HMS Albion did something in the South China Sea that no non-U.S. warship had done in living memory: it conducted a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by sailing through the territorial waters of the disputed Paracel Islands.[1] Although Britain’s Ministry of Defence refused to either confirm or deny whether the HMS Albion had sailed within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea limit, China’s fury strongly suggested that the Royal Navy (RN) had indeed conducted a U.S.-style FONOP. Beijing chastised the United… Read More »Britain, Brexit, and the South China Sea Disputes

Since the Korean Armistice Agreement (KAA) was signed in 1953, the disputed maritime border has been a source of tension between the two Koreas as well as for their partners and allies in the region. Following the mutual agreement of the land border at the 38th parallel in the KAA, the UN Command stationed in the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) unilaterally drew a maritime boundary called the Northern Limit Line (NLL) as an extension of the land border. The two sides of the conflict had been unable to agree to a maritime border, and the UN commander… Read More »Inter-Korean Relations and Maritime Confidence-Building

Watch video of this online discussion with Terence Roehrig, Jean Lee, and Seokwoo Lee. Few nations confront a more complex security environment than the Republic of Korea. South Korea’s security challenges come into sharp relief in its maritime periphery, particularly in the Yellow Sea/West Sea. In these choppy waters, exclusive economic zone and fishery disputes with China, and a boundary disagreement with North Korea, have led to consistent friction, and at times, outright hostility. Agenda Welcome and Introduction Alison Szalwinski, Vice President, National Bureau of Asian Research South Korea and the Challenges of a Maritime Nation Terence Roehrig, Professor of… Read More »South Korea in a Challenging Maritime Security Environment

The Yellow Sea, known as the West Sea to Korea, is a semi-enclosed sea area, located between the mainland of China and the Korean Peninsula, which constitutes the northern extent of the East China Sea. It has an area of approximately 400,000 square kilometers and is consistently less than 400 nautical miles (nm) wide. Delimitation of overlapping continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) entitlements is thus necessary. In particular, maritime delimitation in the Yellow Sea is seen as important with respect to the management of the region’s substantial fisheries resources. Indeed, despite cooperative efforts, illegal fishing incidents have proliferated… Read More »The Law of the Sea and South Korea: The Challenges of Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Yellow Sea

China has become the most important economic partner of South Korea, even as their political relations are growing increasingly complex. In 2019, South Korea’s exports to China totaled $136.2 billion, while its exports to the United States were $73.3 billion (54% of its exports to China).[1] On the other hand, in 2017, China sanctioned South Korea when the latter allowed the United States to deploy its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system on the Korean Peninsula. When one looks at issues between South Korea and China, fisheries are one of the most crucial areas that may aggravate… Read More »The Role of Fishing Disputes in China–South Korea Relations

Trouble is brewing in Southeast Asia amid fears that China might be leveraging the Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen its position in the South China Sea. In April, China sailed its giant survey ship the Haiyang Dizhi 8 off the Malaysian coast to closely shadow a Malaysian oil exploration vessel. In response, the United States ordered the USS America—an amphibious assault ship—and two guided-missile warships into disputed waters in the region, where they were soon joined in exercises by an Australian warship. Soon after, China announced that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships and fighter aircraft had “expelled” the USS Barry,… Read More »China’s Assertive Behavior in the South China Sea and the Implications for India

In 2018 the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) signed the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), which created a maritime buffer zone between the two states. The peace zone was intended to prevent inadvertent collisions at sea and ensure safe fishing activities. However, some observers have expressed concerns that the CMA lowered South Korea’s naval readiness, even as North Korea continues its maritime provocations. Others argue that the CMA was successful in lowering tensions around the Northern Limit Line (NLL) and preventing military clashes near the borders.   Sanghoon Kim spoke with Daniel Phillip Connolly… Read More »The Comprehensive Military Agreement and South Korea’s Maritime Security