Korea to develop hydrates resources despite Japanese protests in disputed island region
1st August 2008
South Korea is likely to step up efforts to develop energy resources near a cluster of rocks contested between Korea and Japan, newswires report. Observers expect the move could increase the level of tension over the islets, (known as Dokdo and Takeshima in Korean and Japanese respectively.)
The island group, consisting of two main islands with a gross area of some 186,000 metres, is currently controlled by Korea. However the recent publication of a Japanese history text book which referred to them as Japanese territory is reported to have reignited the dispute over their ownership.
Sources in the Korean government have been cited as having said that they intend to emphasise the country’s sovereignty over the rocks by developing gas hydrates. The East Sea, in which the islands are located, is thought to contain one of the world’s largest gas hydrates reserves.
In 1996 the Korean government formed the Dokdo Institute & Dokdo Research & Preservation Association, one of the aims of which is to articulate the Korean position regarding the sovereignty of the islands. According to the institute, Korea’s claim to Dokdo stems at least to 512, when the ancient island kingdom of Usando – which included Dokdo – was annexed to one of the original Kingdoms of Korea.
For its part Japan says that its position that the islands are an “inherent” part of Japan is “inalterable” and argues that Korea illegally occupied the islands in 1954. Japan says that it has repeatedly taken issue with the “Syngman Rhee line,” Korea’s declaration of maritime sovereignty which draws the islands into its fold, and that it has consistently opposed Korean attempts at the exercise of sovereign acts (including the construction of a lighthouse, stationing of military personnel, fishing, and oil and gas exploration). It argues also that it has attempted to refer the issue to the international court in the Hague on several occasions since 1954.
According to the Dokdo institute however, this proposal “must be turned down unequivocally,” describing it as “part of [Japan’s plan] to usurp Korea’s right to the island” and adds that “since Dokdo has historically and legally been a Korean territory, and there is no just reason to request a re-evaluation of its territorial status.”
South Korea is likely to step up efforts to develop energy resources near a cluster of rocks contested between Korea and Japan, newswires report. Observers expect the move could increase the level of tension over the islets, (known as Dokdo and Takeshima in Korean and Japanese respectively.)
The island group, consisting of two main islands with a gross area of some 186,000 metres, is currently controlled by Korea. However the recent publication of a Japanese history text book which referred to them as Japanese territory is reported to have reignited the dispute over their ownership.
Sources in the Korean government have been cited as having said that they intend to emphasise the country’s sovereignty over the rocks by developing gas hydrates. The East Sea, in which the islands are located, is thought to contain one of the world’s largest gas hydrates reserves.
In 1996 the Korean government formed the Dokdo Institute & Dokdo Research & Preservation Association, one of the aims of which is to articulate the Korean position regarding the sovereignty of the islands. According to the institute, Korea’s claim to Dokdo stems at least to 512, when the ancient island kingdom of Usando – which included Dokdo – was annexed to one of the original Kingdoms of Korea.
For its part Japan says that its position that the islands are an “inherent” part of Japan is “inalterable” and argues that Korea illegally occupied the islands in 1954. Japan says that it has repeatedly taken issue with the “Syngman Rhee line,” Korea’s declaration of maritime sovereignty which draws the islands into its fold, and that it has consistently opposed Korean attempts at the exercise of sovereign acts (including the construction of a lighthouse, stationing of military personnel, fishing, and oil and gas exploration). It argues also that it has attempted to refer the issue to the international court in the Hague on several occasions since 1954.
According to the Dokdo institute however, this proposal “must be turned down unequivocally,” describing it as “part of [Japan’s plan] to usurp Korea’s right to the island” and adds that “since Dokdo has historically and legally been a Korean territory, and there is no just reason to request a re-evaluation of its territorial status.”