South Korea Intelligence Agencies Detect Suspected China-Built Structure in Disputed Sea: Report

South Korea flag at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 7, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

South Korean intelligence agencies detected a structure allegedly built by China in waters where the exclusive economic zones of both countries overlap in the West Sea, according to a local report.

The structure was described as a mobile steel framework measuring about 150 feet in diameter and 150 feet in height, The Chosun Daily reported, citing South Korean officials on Jan. 9.

Local agencies detected it last month using reconnaissance satellites in waters near the South Korea-China provisional measure zone, a disputed area where activities other than fishing are prohibited, the report said.

According to the report, the recent installation followed two other structures that China built in April and May 2024, which led to formal protests from South Korea. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said at the time that the structures were built to support its fishing activities in the maritime area.

The structure was installed while South Korea was embroiled in political turmoil following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration last month. Yoon was detained as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of insurrection tied to his declaration of martial law. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok assumed the role of acting president, the second person to do so after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was impeached.

South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said last month that it would intensify enforcement measures against Chinese boats illegally fishing in the West Sea to protect the nation’s maritime resources within its territorial waters.

The ministry also vowed to take action against Chinese fishing boats that try to resist inspections using force, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Lee Dong-Gyu, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said the installation is part of the CCP’s strategy to exert control over the disputed waters in the West Sea, which China refers to as the Yellow Sea.

“China is not only installing structures but also conducting military exercises in the region, signaling its ambitions to establish effective control over the West Sea,” Lee told the news outlet. “These actions aim to gain leverage in future negotiations with South Korea.”

Some analysts have warned of a potential conflict at the disputed maritime border separating China and South Korea in the West Sea as the exclusive economic zones of both countries are unclear.

Chungjin Jung, a lieutenant colonel in the Republic of Korea Air Force, said in a September 2021 report that China might exploit the undefined maritime boundaries and “interpret international law only in its favor.”

“Given China’s recent firm and uncompromising stance on maritime sovereignty and rights, it is unclear what offensive actions China will take against Korea in the future,” Chung stated in the report, published by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

“It is all the more worrisome that uncertainty on EEZ boundaries in the Yellow Sea could lead to a conflict of military and security interests between the two countries, beyond their just competing for economic interests.”

The Korean Coast Guard has previously revealed that on average, more than 300 illegal Chinese fishing boats operated in South Korean waters every day in March 2024.

In 2013, the CCP unilaterally established a maritime boundary line between the two countries and demanded that the South Korean Navy not cross it, a demand that South Korea rejected. The China-drawn boundary claimed more than 70 percent of the Yellow Sea as Chinese waters.

The Epoch Times reached out to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment and did not hear back by publication time.

Michael Zhuang and Lisa Bian contributed to this report.