[USFK Forums] Editorial: Maritime border problem [Korea Herald]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, March 15, 2006

[EDITORIAL] Maritime border problem

The Korea Herald, Wednesday, March 15, 2006

While the situation along the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border with North Korea in the West Sea, is relatively calm these days, Pyongyang is intensifying a political campaign to "nullify" it, half a century after the line was drawn by the U.N. Command.

The North`s renewed verbal offensive to alter the sea border ruptured a recent inter-Korean military conference.

Running between the North Korean coastline and five South Korean-controlled islands, from the Han River estuary to the 38th parallel, the NLL has effectively blocked the North`s maritime activities in the sensitive sea area northwest of the Demilitarized Zone.

Both military and civilian vessels operating in the coastal areas of Hwanghae Namdo in North Korea are barred from sailing directly to the open sea because of the NLL. The North has refused to recognize the NLL, claiming that it was unilaterally and arbitrarily drawn by the U.S.-led UNC shortly after the cease-fire that ended the Korean War.

But the demarcation line itself reflected the military balance at the time of the signing of the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953.

The U.N. forces which had occupied almost all islands in the West Sea withdrew from islands north of the 38th parallel while keeping Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo, Socheongdo, Yeonpyeongdo and Udo all located south of 38 degrees N.

In the inter-Korean Basic Agreement of 1991, the North effectively accepted the NLL as the document stipulated that both sides will "respect the present non-aggression zones until a new non-aggression demarcation line is fixed in the future."

In 1999, North Korea unilaterally announced a "new navigation order" on the West Sea to replace the NLL but the South has completely ignored it. Now Pyongyang seems to believe that time has come for a change.

The North Korean delegate in the latest military talks at Panmunjom offered that both sides "boldly give up their respective claims which could cause a conflict" on the sea. He refused to discuss Seoul`s proposal on ways to prevent military clashes and arrange joint fishing operations in the sensitive zone, arguing that without resolving the fundamental NLL issue, all other measures would be meaningless.

It is now anticipated that the maritime border question will continue to be raised as a priority subject in future inter-Korean dialogue and Seoul will have to respond. The best way to counter the North`s NLL offensive, we believe, is to put the issue into the broad category of tension reduction measures on the peninsula.

They should include turning the DMZ into a true buffer zone with the removal of all hidden arms on both sides, securing free access corridors to the Mt. Geumgang tourism zone in the east and to the Gaeseong industrial estate in the west, for example.

And what will matter most in any discussion for possible change to the sea border will be domestic public opinion, especially those of the anti-North conservative force which will oppose redrawing the line even an inch south, let alone opening any part of it. Coping with the internal repercussions promises to be even harder than dealing with the North on its maneuverings to replace the NLL.

2006.03.15


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