Some Considerations on the Establisment of the Exclusive Economic Zone in Korea

한국의 배타적 경제수역 설정에 관한 연구

The purpose of this paper is to search for reasonable and fair principles applicable to the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone(which is called the EEZ, hereinafter) around the Korean Peninsula th-rought the comprehensive study of maritime boundary, which is one of the most important issues in the law of the Sea. So far, the sea has been exploited for activities such as fishery, transport and military stratedy, and en-vironmental policy and so on. From this time on, however, it becomes important to us as the major trea-sure-house of various resources which will be developed and used for diversified purposes. For these rea-sons, nowadays, more and more countries of the world are competing to secure waters as much as possible within their jurisdiction. And the regime of the EEZ was created as a result of this international trend. At last, it has been institutionalized as the 200-mile EEZ of a legal notion in the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, in Jamaica on December 10, 1982. In adapting to this EEZ institution, Korea is faced with several complicated problems as it is bounded on three sides by the sea and all of its neighboring countries such as the PRC, the DPRK, Japan, Russia etc are less than 400 miles away between opposite countries. Therefore, when trying to delimit the boun-dary for the EEZ, it appears necessary to analyze applicable principles and rules of international law for delimitation mainly through the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and studies the trends of actual State practices and recent international precedents. It is hoped that such knowledge will enable Korea to secure sufficient resources and other sovereign rights without conflicting with the neighboring countries concer-ned. For the achievement of the above mentioned object. I analyzed the necessities of the establishment of the EEZ in Korea, the difficulties and practices of Korea's neighbors, and the changes and forthcoming trends in Korea's relations with its neighbors concerned on the basis of the general explanation of the EEZ regime. In conclusion, it is my opinion that for the establishment of the EEZ delimitation which neighbors around the Korean Peninsula should be applied reasonable and equitable principles considering the rele-vant circumstances which characterize the area definitely as well as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.