Photo : KBS News
South Korea and Japan held talks for the first time in 39 years on a joint development of the “Block 7” continental shelf, an area which possibly holds large deposits of oil and natural gas under the East China Sea south of Jeju Island.
According to Seoul’s foreign ministry on Friday, the two sides held “broad discussions” in Tokyo on the Agreement on the Joint Development Zone(JDZ), which took effect in 1978.
The two sides are speculated to have assessed progress made in past projects and exchanged positions on future joint exploration, with Seoul determined to continue bilateral consultation on the matter.
Japan had reportedly become lukewarm about the two-way deal after the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) came into force in 1994, recognizing jurisdiction of the continental shelf by distance, theoretically in favor of Japan.
While the 50-year agreement is set to last through June 2028, there is speculation that Tokyo may decide to unilaterally declare its termination three years earlier as either side is permitted to do so.
Officials from both Seoul and Tokyo, however, stressed that termination or extension of the agreement was not expected to be on the agenda at Friday’s talks.