Inter-Agency Meeting on West Sea Issue with China: "Active Response to Prevent Infringement of Rights"

Amid growing concerns over China's unauthorized installation of structures in the West Sea Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ), the government stated on the 27th, "We will actively respond to ensure that our legitimate rights and interests are not infringed upon, while closely monitoring developments in the central part of the West Sea in close cooperation among relevant ministries."

On the 17th, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of National Defense, and other related agencies attended an inter-agency meeting at the Government Seoul Office Building to discuss responses to the West Sea issue. Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that on the morning of this day, Kang Youngshin, Director-General for Northeast Asian and Central Asian Affairs, presided over an inter-agency meeting at the Government Seoul Office Building to address the West Sea issue. Officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of National Defense, and other related agencies attended the meeting to discuss recent unilateral actions by China within overlapping maritime zones and other West Sea-related matters.

Previously, China sparked controversy by installing unauthorized structures in the PMZ, claiming they were for 'aquaculture' purposes, and by designating parts of Korea's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as navigation prohibition zones. Of the three navigation prohibition zones established by China, two are known to infringe upon Korea's EEZ.