UN maritime tribunal elects South Korean as president, triggering concerns in Japan over disputed sea
Both nations have been at loggerheads over the stretch of water that divides them for years
The appointment of a South Korean legal expert to the United Nations tribunal that oversees maritime disputes has caused concern in Japan over whether he will use the position to push Seoul’s agenda on a long-contested stretch of water between the two nations.
Paik Jin-hyun was on Monday elected as president of The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which handles global maritime issues under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, for a period of three years.
South Korea and Japan have been at loggerheads over the sea that divides them for years. On most maps, the area is marked as the Sea of Japan, but Seoul has waged an increasingly effective diplomatic campaign to have it known as the East Sea.
“This is a very worrying development,” said Yoichi Shimada, a professor of international relations at Fukui Prefectural University.
“Both the South Korean government and civilian activists have been very vocal about the issue of changing the name of the Japan Sea and we, the Japanese government, should be concerned,” he said.