Yellow Sea stand-off over ‘steel structure' raises China-South Korea tensions: reports
Details have emerged about an apparent two-hour stand-off between South Korean and Chinese coastguard vessels last month, which began when South Korea attempted to investigate a steel structure in the Yellow Sea, media in Seoul reported on Tuesday.
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According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing South Korean diplomatic sources, the confrontation played out on the afternoon of February 26 in the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ) near
Socotra Rock , southwest of South Korea's
Jeju Island
The incident erupted when Chinese coastguard ships along with three smaller civilian boats blocked the South Korean research ship Onnuri, which had been dispatched to survey a structure built by the Chinese without Seoul's authorisation.
In response, a South Korean coastguard vessel was dispatched to the scene leading to a stand-off that lasted for more than two hours, Yonhap reported. South Korea said its inspection was legitimate, while the Chinese side claimed that the structure was an aquafarm and asked the Korean vessel to leave, according to the report.
Some of the Chinese civilians reportedly carried knives, but there was no physical struggle.
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South Korea's foreign ministry said it was working with related government agencies to ensure the country's legitimate maritime rights and interests in the Yellow Sea.
'We have also delivered our firm position to China regarding the reported incident,' ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said on Tuesday.
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He went on to state that while USFK is historically tasked with defending South Korea and preserving stability on the Korean Peninsula more broadly, the resources assigned to the command can also be made available throughout the Indo-Pacific as needed. Although the USFK's refocusing its attention to a contingency in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait remains a hypothetical, the very possibility causes nerves to fray in Seoul. The concern won't go away anytime soon and may even increase now that Lee is in power. Based on his public statements during the campaign, Lee wants nothing to do with a war over Taiwan and would prefer to maintain positive relations with Beijing and Taipei simultaneously. The Trump and Lee administrations will have to come to a more detailed consensus on the issue or risk a degradation of the alliance in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan becomes a reality. Elections have consequences. A changing of the guard will inevitably bring policy change in specific areas pertaining to security and geopolitical alignment. Still, the US-South Korea alliance, now in its 72nd year, will persist. Daniel R. DePetris ( is a fellow at Defense Priorities .
