In previous years, South Korea's "National Army Day" commemoration activities were mostly held in Jilongtai, where the headquarters of the armed forces of the army, navy and air force are located, or in Seoul Airport and Silkworm House Sports Ground. This year, it was placed at the naval base for the first time. The Second Fleet of the Navy is responsible for guarding the waters near the so-called "Northern Boundary Line (NLL)", which is the forefront of the western waters. The commemoration of "National Army Day" at the base shows that South Korea attaches more importance to the national maritime security strategy and the construction of marine military forces.
South Korea is a peninsular country surrounded by the sea in the east, south and west, with 3,200 islands and more than 8,460 kilometers of coastline. The marine industry accounts for at least 7% of GDP. The Korean Strait it guards is the maritime gateway of Northeast Asia and the "South Gate" of the Sea of Japan, and it has always been a battleground for military strategists. The Korean Strait is one of the 16 sea lanes declared by the US Navy in 1986.
After the cold war, with the increase of non-traditional security factors in the marine field, South Korea's understanding of marine security has changed, with richer content, expanding scope, expanding fields and improving status. Under the guidance of national security policy and maritime strategy, South Korea has put forward a new concept of maritime security, which is gradually moving towards "oceanization" while transitioning to "independence". The South Korean Navy plans to build a "blue water" navy with ocean-going mobile combat capability in the first half of 2 1 century, thus having the ability to compete with the navies of neighboring powers. In order to achieve this goal, the Moon Jae in government is increasing its investment in naval construction.
At present, China and South Korea have basically maintained peaceful and cooperative relations in the marine field, but there are also some differences and disputes. Differences and disputes are mainly reflected in the following three aspects-
Delimitation of sea areas. In the Yellow Sea, the east-west width is about 300 nautical miles, and the narrowest point is only 104 nautical miles, which objectively determines that China and South Korea cannot have exclusive economic zones as wide as 200 nautical miles at the same time. In the East China Sea, the length from northeast to southwest is about 700 nautical miles, and the width from east to west is about 400 nautical miles. Most of the sea areas are not wide enough for the two countries to delimit the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of 200 nautical miles, and there is also overlap. The South Korean government adopted a selective or eclectic approach to demarcation, and advocated that the principle of median line equidistant from China should be applied to the west and the principle of natural extension of Okinawa Trough should be applied to the south. This conflicts with the principles of natural extension and fairness advocated by our country. Therefore, the essence of the maritime rights and interests of China and South Korea is the overlap and conflict of the maritime interests of the two countries. Its external performance is mainly the delimitation of adjacent sea areas between the two countries, with emphasis on the delimitation of exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. China and South Korea have more than 200,000 square kilometers of disputed waters in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, and the two countries have conducted 10 negotiations on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones.
Fishery disputes will intensify. Foreign-related cases caused by fishery problems between China and South Korea are still one of the main problems facing the two countries. In recent years, the contradiction between fishermen in China and the Korean Coast Guard has intensified. Chinese and Korean officials have been looking for a quick solution, and there are law enforcement negotiations every year, but the effect is not satisfactory. In the future, fishery disputes between China and South Korea will still plague the fishery departments of the two countries.
Su Yan reef dispute. Su Yan Reef, east longitude 125 degrees east longitude 10 minutes 45 seconds north latitude 32 degrees 7 minutes 42 seconds, means "a reef along the coast of Jiangsu", which is called "outlying island" in South Korea. China believes that Su Yan Reef is not an island, because it is located on the continental shelf of the East China Sea, so it should belong to the exclusive economic zone of China. From 65438 to 0995, South Korea began to implement the strategy of "turning reefs into islands" in the name of hydrological observation, and the buildings on Su Yan Reef were completed in June 2003. On September 14, 2006, Qin Gang, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, said at a press conference: "Su Yan Reef is an underwater reef located in the northern part of the East China Sea in China. As Suyan Reef is located in the overlapping area advocated by the exclusive economic zones of the two countries, (China) opposes the unilateral activities of the ROK claiming overlapping sea areas in the exclusive economic zones of the two countries, and "the unilateral actions of the ROK government cannot produce any legal effect".
Since 20 16, South Korea has adopted a policy of further leaning toward the United States in its overall security strategy, introducing "Sade" into South Korea, which has led to the freezing point since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. In this context, South Korea's strengthening of maritime security strategy and naval military construction will inevitably bring new impacts to China's maritime security and maritime rights and interests.