Chinese submarine cables arrive at S. Korea’s largest offshore wind project

A batch of Chinese submarine cables has arrived at Korea’s largest single offshore wind farm project under construction in the West Sea, according to sources familiar with the matter, raising concerns about a potential breach of Korea’s maritime security.

According to the sources, the Chinese submarine cables manufactured by Hengtong Optic-Electric Co., China’s biggest cable company, were delivered to the island of Songido, where construction is due to start Tuesday on an onshore substation for the 364.8-megawatt Yeonggwang Nakwol offshore wind power project. They added that the project held a demonstration of the cable-laying process last week.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that the Chinese-made submarine cables have been equipped with tracking devices or telecommunication modules,” said one of the sources from Korea’s cable industry.

“If there are (radio-frequency identification) modules hidden between the inner insulation layers, they would be difficult to detect and our submarine cable network could be exposed.”

The made-in-China submarine cables were acquired to connect Songido's onshore substation to the switchgear station on the coast of Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province.

Another industry source pointed out that the US Federal Communications Commission recently proposed strengthening regulations and screenings for submarine cable infrastructures to “better protect submarine cables, identify and mitigate harms affecting national security and law enforcement, and facilitate the deployment of submarine cables and capacity to the market.”

“If Korean companies that have worked with Chinese submarine cable firms want to enter the US market, they are going to be at a disadvantage,” said the source.

The 2.3 trillion won ($1.62 billion) Yeonggwang Nakwol offshore wind power project is Korea’s biggest offshore wind farm development. Once completed, the offshore wind farm is expected to produce enough electricity to power 250,000 households per year for over 20 years.

However, the construction, which is about 40 percent complete, has been halted due to allegations of legal violations by the project operator, Myungwoon Industry Development. According to the company, about 100 Korean firms are participating in the offshore wind farm project, accounting for some 70 percent of the equipment and construction. The entities responsible for the remaining 30 percent have not been disclosed.

“The government should recognize the importance and urgency of submarine cable security and take active measures to safeguard the security of our central infrastructure in the digital age,” said Kim Suk-yoon, a professor of coast guard studies at Hanseo University, in an article posted on the website of the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy.

“In the digital age, submarine cables are like a lifeline under the sea that connects our de facto island nation to the outside.”

The arrival of the Chinese-made submarine cables came as Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the same day that the government is reviewing a plan to potentially set up a facility in the West Sea in response to China’s installation of a renovated oil-drilling structure in an area where the exclusive economic zones of the two countries overlap.

Oceans Minister Kang Do-hyung said the Korean government is taking the matter very seriously and handling it with a view to protecting the country’s maritime territory.

Since first spotting the Chinese structure in the Provisional Maritime Zone in March 2022, the Korean government says it has been raising the issue with Beijing. The PMZ refers to an area where Korea and China share their economic zones, so they are allowed to carry out fishing activities only.

In February this year, vessels from the two countries engaged in a two-hour standoff as the Chinese ships hindered Korea’s attempt to investigate the structure.

Korea plans to demand an explanation from China about the incident when the two sides hold maritime cooperation talks this week.