Seminar to highlight Jeju residents links to Ieodo

By Kim Se-jeong

Ieodo, a submerged rock has become a source of conflict between Korea and China since the latter began claiming it was an extant extension of its continental shelf in the early 2000s.

A researcher says Seoul should seek a diplomatic solution to the issue with Beijing, noting that their wrangling will do little good to the operation of a scientific research station Korea installed on the rock in 2003.

“Ieodo has long been portrayed as a haven or a place of rest for the dead in poetry and songs shared by Jeju residents,” Koh Choong-suk, president of the Society of Ieodo, told The Korea Times. “That means they have long been attached to the rock.”

The institute plans to organize the first international seminar on Ieodo in Seoul Thursday to raise public awareness and examine legal and scientific aspects of the rock.

Entitled “Maritime Boundary Disputes in East China Sea: Ieodo,” the one-day seminar, co-sponsored by The Korea Times, will attract renowned international scholars.

Guest speakers and discussants will include Jon Van Dyke from the University of Hawaii; Kim Young-koo from the Ryeo Hae Institute; Park Yong-ahn from the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; Tran Truong Thuy from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam; Ian Storey from the Institute for Contemporary Southeast Asia in Singapore; Eric Lee from Dongguk University; Timothy Dolan from the Catholic University of Korea; Lee Ki-suk from Seoul National University; Kim Byung-ryull from Korea National Defense University; Lee Sang-tae from Korea International Culture University of Graduate; Lee Byung-gul from Jeju National University; and Lee Chang-sup, chief editorial writer from The Korea Times.

The seminar will also provide sessions on maritime disputes China has with other countries.

Ieodo is the Korean name for the rock. Internationally, it is known as Socotra Rock named after the British merchant vessel, which discovered it in 1900.

It is submerged 4.6 meters below sea level and located 149 kilometers southwest of Marado, the southernmost island of the Korean Peninsula.

In 1938, the Japanese government laid out plans to install a research station on the rock, but the plan was scrapped due to the outbreak of World War II. In 1984, the rock’s location was confirmed by Jeju National University, and the research station was completed in 2003.

China complained about the research station, which was installed to measure ocean currents and accumulates data for weather forecasting, fishery and environmental protection and conservation.

In 2006, the Chinese foreign ministry criticized Korea for taking “unilateral” activity on the rock, claiming it was “illegal.”

Koh, a former president of Jeju National University, said finding a diplomatic solution is a tough job for Korea, as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea doesn’t recognize a submerged rock as a territory of any country.

Korea abides by the international law, but insists the rock lie within Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) _ 200 nautical miles from one’s territory, therefore, it is free to do anything on the rock as it wishes.

China has claimed sovereignty over the rock, arguing the rock lies in its natural extension of a continental shelf, according to Koh.

The Ieodo institute is gearing up to make people aware of the rock and the dispute. As part of such efforts, the institute opened photo exhibitions at three locations starting early this year. It has also published scholastic papers, comics and poems on Ieodo.

The institute is inviting students and teachers to the seminar. “(By doing all those efforts), we hope to raise awareness of maritime sovereignty among young generation,” Koh said.

For more information on the seminar and the rock visit www.ieodo.kr.