This aerial file photo, taken Sept. 2, 2021, shows South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Japan interfered with South Korea’s marine research around its easternmost islets of Dokdo more than 70 times over a recent five year period, a lawmaker said Thursday.
The hindrances to the research on climate change and the marine environment took place 75 times from 2019 to 2023, Hwang Hee, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, said, citing data from the Coast Guard.
Hwang said Japanese patrol ships have trailed South Korean scientific research vessels to monitor their activity.
Dokdo — a set of rocky islets in the East Sea — has long been a source of diplomatic friction between South Korea and Japan.
South Korea keeps a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling Dokdo. Still, Japan has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the rocky outcroppings in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.
The number of interferences accounted for about half of the 131 times that South Korea conducted research around the islets over the five-year period. This year, research took place on 12 occasions through the end of July, with Japan impeding them four times.
Meanwhile, Hwang said Chinese research and armed vessels have been spotted 233 times in waters near South Korea’s underwater rock formation of Ieodo, south of the southern resort island of Jeju, from 2019 to July this year.
Chinese aircraft also entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone without authorization about 380 times from 2020 to 2024, Hwang said. South Korea has responded to such incidents by dispatching its military aircraft.
The air defense zone is not territorial airspace but is delineated to call on foreign planes to identify themselves so as to prevent accidental clashes.
(Yonhap)
