[War & Business] The Dawn of the Northeast Asia 'Undersea Cable' War

Chinese Cargo Ship Suspected of Cutting Undersea Cable
South Korean Cables Exposed to "Gray Zone Strategy"

On the 3rd, a Taiwan Coast Guard vessel is seen chasing the Chinese cargo ship Shunxing39, suspected of damaging an undersea cable off the coast of Keelung Port in northern Taiwan. Taiwan Coast Guard

The Taiwanese government has requested investigative cooperation from South Korea regarding a Chinese cargo ship suspected of cutting undersea cables off its coast. If investigative cooperation between South Korea and Taiwan begins, the undersea cable disputes that have so far centered around the Baltic Sea region in Europe are expected to intensify in Northeast Asia as well.

The Taiwan Coast Guard reports that the Chinese cargo ship Shunxing 39 deliberately dropped its anchor on the 3rd in the offshore area of Keelung Port in northern Taiwan, cutting an undersea communication cable connecting Taiwan and the U.S. West Coast. This cable is known to be part of the 'Trans-Pacific Express (TPE),' an international consortium-owned cable involving U.S. AT&T, Japan's NTT, South Korea's KT, China Telecom, and China Unicom.

Taiwanese authorities and the international community suspect that the Chinese government used a civilian cargo ship to carry out sabotage operations on the cable. This suspicion arises because a similar incident occurred in mid-November last year in the Baltic Sea, where the Chinese cargo ship Yifeng 3 deliberately cut two undersea cables connecting Sweden and Lithuania. It is believed that China conducted similar sabotage operations in the Taiwan Strait.

Such sabotage operations are also considered part of China's long-standing 'gray zone strategy' in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea areas. The gray zone strategy refers to indirect military operations using civilian cargo ships or fishing boats rather than regular naval forces or overt military actions. China is known to organize approximately 750,000 coastal fishermen into maritime militias and conducts various military drills every 3 to 6 months.

Especially amid heightened military tensions between China and Taiwan, China's overt attacks on Taiwan's undersea cables are viewed as a kind of preliminary test for a blockade operation against Taiwan. Taiwan depends on 14 undersea cables for 95% of its total internet data and voice traffic, so if all these cables were cut in an emergency, Taiwan could literally become an isolated island.

Not only Taiwan but South Korea is also highly vulnerable to undersea cable attacks. South Korea has 11 major undersea cables, most of which connect to China, Japan, and Taiwan. Since satellite internet communication accounts for less than 1% of usage in South Korea, cutting undersea cables could cause utter chaos. South Korea has no cables directly connecting it to Europe or the U.S., and the essential connection for the South Korea-U.S. alliance depends on undersea cables passing through Japan.

This means that if undersea cable disputes begin in Northeast Asia, South Korea could suffer the greatest damage. With land routes blocked by North Korea and surrounded by sea on three sides, the importance of undersea cables is equally critical for both South Korea and Taiwan. Moreover, the sea area South Korea must defend is much larger than the Taiwan Strait area that Taiwan must protect against China.

Strengthening naval power and enhancing cooperation not only with Taiwan but also with the U.S., Japan, and Southeast Asian countries is more important than ever. However, at this crucial moment, South Korea is effectively in a state of anarchy. To prevent China's gray zone strategy, which could occur anytime in our coastal waters, political instability must be resolved as soon as possible.