Foreign ministry to call in Chinese diplomat over Ieodo report

The foreign ministry plans to call in a diplomat at China's Embassy in Seoul this week to inquire about a media report that a top maritime official in Beijing laid claim to a submerged outcropping of rock off South Korea's southern coast, an official said Sunday.

Local media have reported that Liu Xigui, chief of China's State Oceanic Administration, claimed in an interview with Beijing's Xinhua news agency that the outcropping, Ieodo, is in waters under Chinese control and is part of areas patrolled by Chinese vessels and aircraft.

Ieodo, submerged 4.6 meters, lies within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of South Korea and China. Although an international maritime law stipulates that a submerged rock cannot be claimed as territory by any country, South Korea effectively controls Ieodo, which is closer to it than any other country.

On Monday, a foreign ministry director handling international law plans to meet with a political affairs official from the Chinese Embassy to ask whether the reported remark is true and in what context it was made, a ministry official said.

Separately, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Xinsen plans to visit the foreign ministry for talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin about the planned visit to Seoul by Chinese President Hu Jintao and issues related to events marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The ministry said Zhang's visit to the ministry has nothing to do with the Ieodo issue. (Yonhap)