S. Korea to host global forum on maritime law

South Korea is set to host an annual international forum on maritime law, setting the stage for judicial officials and academics to discuss emerging challenges from the new oceans technologies and environmental crises, the foreign ministry said Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN-backed International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) will jointly hold the sixth International Conference on the Law of the Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday in Incheon, west of Seoul.

Albert Hoffmann, president of the ITLOS, and Ham Sang-wook, Seoul's deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs, will deliver remarks during the forum held both online and offline, which will be attended by ITLOS judges, government officials and experts.

This year's conference will focus on how to set the legal framework to regulate ocean space, its uses and resources in line with the new maritime technology and changing baselines or jurisdictional zones affected by the global warming, the ministry said.

The tribunal is an independent judicial body established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the treaty. (Yonhap)