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Beijing rejects Seoul’s call for adjustment of its air zone

Beijing on Thursday rejected Seoul’s demand to adjust its recent demarcation of an air defense zone, raising tension between the two countries over a maritime dispute surrounding Ieodo, a submerged rock in the East China Sea.

During a strategic defense dialogue in Seoul, Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo met with Wang Guanzhong, the deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to discuss Beijing’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

“We expressed deep regrets over the drawing of the zone without any prior consultations and reaffirmed that our jurisdiction of the waters around Ieodo would not be affected (by China’s air zone),” Seoul’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Kim Min-seok told reporters.

“We demanded adjustment of the air zone and said that we are considering expanding our own zone to protect our national interests. We also said there is a need for consultations with regional countries to promote mutual trust and reduce tension.”

Last Saturday, Beijing expanded its Air Defense Identification Zone, which overlaps with those of South Korea and Japan. The two countries have criticized it for setting up the zone without consulting them.

China’s ADIZ covers contentious areas in the East China Sea, including those over Ieodo, a submerged rock in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of South Korea and China, and a chain of disputed islands called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

“I hope that we can have constructive discussions on bilateral issues, which are congruent with our strategic partnership,” Baek said prior to the talks.

Wang said in return, “Our strategic defense dialogue carries a symbolic meaning: it has to do with building effective cooperation in the defense sector. I hope that today’s dialogue has effective outcomes.”

Days before, Yoo Jeh-seung, deputy defense chief for policy, called in Brigadier Gen. Xu Jingming, an attache at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, to express regrets over the air zone.

Seoul has also flown its naval aircraft, including the P3-C maritime surveillance plane, through China’s air zone without notification to Beijing, in a display of its firm decision not to recognize Beijing’s unilateral demarcation.

Seoul is considering whether to expand its air defense zone to incorporate Ieodo. Its zone, first set up in 1951 during the Korean War, does not include the rock, although it has effectively controlled it with a scientific research center established in 2003.

China’s demarcation of the controversial zone also triggered an angry response from the U.S. Expressing concerns that China could destabilize the status quo in the region, the U.S. flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the zone on Tuesday in an apparent show of force against the increasingly assertive China.

Apart from the air zone, North Korea’s nuclear problem was on the agenda as well.

Baek was said to have expressed gratitude for Beijing’s stance against Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons and its additional atomic tests, which could undermine regional security

He also called for joint efforts to denuclearize the North and deter provocations by the unpredictable regime in Pyongyang.

Also on the agenda was the task of setting up a hotline between defense ministries of the two countries. Seoul has sought to open the hotline in the first half of next year to improve bilateral communication on security issues.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)