Seoul, Tokyo reboot joint maritime resource talks after 40-year freeze

South Korea and Japan are poised to hold talks on the joint development of untapped natural resources, including petroleum and underground minerals, beneath the continental shelf in the East China Sea for the first time since 1985, breaking nearly 40 years of stalled negotiations.

The South Korea-Japan Joint Commission, a platform for consultations on the implementation of their bilateral joint development agreement, is set to hold its sixth meeting Friday in Tokyo, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

In 1974, South Korea and Japan signed an agreement for the joint development of the continental shelf south of Jeju Island, hoping to reconcile their differing positions on the boundaries of their respective continental shelf claims in the East China Sea.

The agreement also established a framework for both countries to collaborate in exploring and potentially extracting valuable natural resources from an 82,557 square-kilometer area of the continental shelf in the East China Sea.

The Joint Development Zone overlaps with nearly the entirety of Block 7 and portions of Blocks 4, 5, and 6-2, as designated by South Korea under its Submarine Mineral Resources Development Act.

Why resume

The resumption of the meeting comes at a pivotal moment, with less than a year remaining before the agreement can be terminated.

Originally enacted on June 22, 1978, the agreement is valid for 50 years and will automatically continue unless one of the parties chooses to terminate it with three years' written notice. The earliest this notice can be issued is June 22, 2025.

Yang Hee-cheol, Director General of the Ocean Law and Policy Institute at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, suggested that Japan’s decision to agree to the sixth commission meeting likely stems from its ongoing deliberation over whether to maintain or terminate the JDZ agreement, as the time to issue a termination notice approaches.

"We don’t know what the final outcome will be, but the time has arrived for Japan to make a definitive decision on the matter," Yang told The Korea Herald.

"While Japan has been passive about convening the joint commission until now, it seems that the country has accepted South Korea's repeated proposals for a meeting. This is likely because they recognize the need to hear South Korea's position and, if necessary, communicate their own intentions regarding the agreement."

Why long-stalled

Despite South Korea's repeated calls to convene the commission's meetings, Japan has consistently refused to engage, citing the argument that the natural resources in the JDZ are no longer economically viable for extraction.

Under the agreement, Seoul and Tokyo committed that "the commission shall meet at least once each year and whenever requested by either national section."

Seoul, however, has long believed that Japan's reluctance to convene JDZ meetings stems from changes in the international legal landscape, which have since shifted in Japan's favor.

When the agreement was signed in 1974, the continental shelf extension theory was widely accepted, allowing South Korea to claim sovereign rights over the continental shelf extending beyond its territorial waters and assert jurisdiction over Block 7, despite its proximity to Japan’s Okinawa Trough.

Since the 1980s, international rulings like the Libya-Malta case have advanced the distance-based standard, granting countries sovereign rights over continental shelves and waters extending 200 nautical miles from their coastlines.

This shift in legal norms has bolstered Japan's position, due to its closer proximity to the continental shelf within the JDZ.

What to discuss

However, Yang noted that, given the nature of the joint commission, the question of extending the agreement cannot be included on the agenda.

"This falls outside the commission's purview. A resolution on that issue would require a separate political agreement between the two countries or diplomatic negotiations between their foreign ministries."

Yang explained that the top priority at Friday’s Joint Commission meeting will likely be to reassess the implementation of the agreement thus far.

"Korea is expected to provide Japan with a more detailed explanation of the economic value assessments of the JDZ it has conducted thus far, along with evidence supporting the potential presence of resources in the area," Yang said. "The primary focus will likely be on Korea proposing additional exploration efforts, which could take various forms, such as joint research initiatives between private companies from both countries, if necessary."

South Korea and Japan aimed for joint development but effectively halted efforts in the 1990s due to the absence of economically viable wells. In 2006 South Korea proposed additional exploration, but Japan opposed further efforts.

The two countries must respectively designate a concessionaire for natural resource exploration and extraction in the JDZ area, yet Japan has not appointed one.

A senior official of South Korea's Foreign Ministry also explained that "the joint commission is designated as a consultative body focused on issues related to the implementation of the agreement."

"The discussions are expected to center more on evaluating past progress and exchanging views on key matters concerning the implementation, rather than addressing the future of the agreement itself," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"We don't place importance on the mere act of holding the meeting. Since this is the first time in a long time that the official consultative body outlined in the agreement is convening, we intend to actively address and discuss the key issues we deem important."

According to South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the South Korean delegation will be led by Hwang Jun-shik, Director-General for International Legal Affairs, and Yoon Chang-hyun, Director-General of Resources Industry Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

On the Japanese side, the chief delegates will be Akihiro Okochi, Deputy Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, and Hajime Wakuda, Director-General of the Natural Resources and Fuel Department at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

What's ahead

In response to the possibility of Japan terminating the JDZ agreement, the Foreign Ministry official clarified, "If the JDZ agreement is dissolved, only the JDZ will cease to exist; Block 7 will remain intact."

"Without the JDZ agreement, the area will still be considered an undelimited maritime zone where the continental shelf claims of South Korea and Japan overlap," the official added.

Citing international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the official explained that in regions with overlapping claims, neither country can unilaterally develop resources or establish maritime boundaries without the other’s consent.

"Thus, any unilateral development or boundary demarcation without South Korea’s approval is not permissible," the official stated.

The official further emphasized, "We will continue to explore all possible scenarios surrounding the JDZ agreement, thoroughly examine various response strategies, and spare no effort in safeguarding our national interests."