South Korea warns of possible sea clash with Japan
Japanese and South Korean negotiators today raced to avert a clash over a set of disputed islets as Seoul accused Tokyo of neo-colonial ambitions and warned of a possible confrontation at sea.
Behind-the-scenes talks on a diplomatic solution came as tensions mounted over a Japanese plan to survey resource-rich waters near the islands, which are occupied by South Korea, but claimed by Japan.
Some 20 South Korean gunboats have been dispatched to the area in anticipation of the arrival of Japanese survey ships.
The gunboats were scheduled to conduct high seas seizure drills today, but delayed the exercises due to bad weather, said Jang Soo-pyo, a South Korean coastguard official.
In Seoul, Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho warned of the possibility of a clash and said Japan held the “key” to preventing conflict.
President Roh Moo-hyun, meanwhile, accused Tokyo of harbouring imperialistic ambitions. Many South Koreans consider Japan’s claim a result of its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
“There are some people claiming territorial rights to former colonies that were once acquired through a war of aggression,” Roh said in a speech at a breakfast prayer meeting of Christian leaders in Seoul.
“We are now in a difficult situation,” he said. “Problems cannot be solved just by goodwill, and we need wisdom and courage.”
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said there had been “unofficial” contact between the two sides, following media reports that Tokyo had offered to halt the survey if Seoul dropped its attempt to alter the names of places in the area.
Abe, however, said Japan planned to go ahead with the project.
“The Japanese coastguard is carrying out preparations to conduct a maritime survey that is based on international law,” he said.
“A calm response is necessary, and unofficial contacts between Japan and South Korea are taking place with the aim of a peaceful resolution.”
Two survey ships left Japan’s west coast yesterday but have been lingering offshore since, said coastguard official Masayuki Fujita. News reports said the survey might begin later today.
The rocky outcroppings, called Dokdo by Koreans and Takeshima in Japan, are surrounded by rich fishing waters and both countries claim the area as part of their exclusive economic zones.
Korea Gas Corporation estimates the area also has enough methane hydrate deposits to meet South Korean natural gas demands for 30 years. It plans to start drilling in the region next year to assess the size of the deposits.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso told an upper house foreign and defence affairs committee that the survey was allowed under international laws and that Japan needed to do it to protect its national interests.
“Japan cannot just sit around quietly,” Aso said, especially given that South Korea has conducted “three to four” maritime surveys in the region, and with an international conference on naming bodies of water coming up in June.
Japanese newspapers reported that Tokyo offered to drop its survey plans if Seoul agreed to not register Korean place names in the disputed waters, including a proposal to rename the Sea of Japan. Some undersea basins and ridges are not yet named.
Foreign Ministry officials from both countries declined to comment on the reports.
“We are conducting diplomatic contacts, including those of ambassadors, so that we can resolve the problem peacefully,” Aso said.
The leader of South Korea’s ruling Uri Party, however, called later Thursday for stricter measures against Japan, saying quiet diplomacy was becoming ineffective.
“Japan has finally crossed the line,” Chung Dong-young, chairman of President Roh Moo-hyun’s Uri Party, was quoted as saying by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “We have been practising somewhat quiet and calm diplomacy up until now, but we can no longer stand this.”
South Korea filed a declaration with the United Nations stating it would reject any attempt to settle the matter in an international court. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said it had no immediate plans to seek the help of courts.
The dispute prompted calls from the European Union for both sides to seek a peaceful resolution.
“The EU is saddened to see that there are tensions between the two countries and hopes that the countries can find a peaceful diplomatic solution,” visiting EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a news conference in Seoul.
About 200 riot police were guarding the Japanese Embassy in Seoul as a small group of 30 demonstrators demanded Japan abandon its survey ambitions, chanting “Dokdo is our territory!” About a dozen fishery workers later failed in an attempt to storm the compound.
The island dispute marks a further deterioration in ties between the two countries, which have struggled for years to overcome their centuries-long history of animosity.
In addition to the islet feud, the two sides are at odds over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to a war shrine that critics, Seoul included, consider a glorification of Japan’s imperialist past.
