QI Huaigao, “The Case Study of Maritime Jurisdiction Claims and Delimitation of Maritime States in Northeast Asia,” Journal of Northeast Asia Studies, No. 3, 2024, pp. 23-46.
Abstract: The four Northeast Asian maritime countries, DPRK, ROK, Japan, and Russia, have signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and try to safeguard their own claims to maritime jurisdiction based on the UNCLOS. There are three Treaty/Agreements which have gone into effect, namely Agreement between Japan and the ROK concerning the Establishment of Boundary in the Northern part of the Continental Shelf Adjacent to the Two Countries signed in 1974,Treaty between the USSR and the DPRK on the Demarcation of the Soviet-Korean National Border signed in 1985,and Agreement between the USSR and the DPRK on the Delimitation of the Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf signed in 1986.There are two characteristics of the four countries’ claims to maritime jurisdiction and the three de⁃ limitation cases. First, the four countries have tried to expand their own claims to maritime jurisdiction so that they can jockey favorable legal status in the maritime de⁃ limitation. Second the four countries proposed or applied the principle of equidistance to divide the maritime zones. This article puts forward two thoughts on maritime delimitation among China and the three countries including DPRK, ROK, and Japan as follows: Firstly, Chinese academics need to consider the claims to maritime jurisdiction of the Northeast Asian countries from the perspective of the third party. Secondly, China can pragmatically apply the equidistance/relevant circumstances or the equitable principles to the future maritime delimitation with its maritime neighbors in the Northeast Asia. For example, the equidistance/relevant circumstances principle can be applied to China-DPRK EEZ/continental shelf delimitation in the North Yellow Sea, China-ROK EEZ/continental shelf delimitation in the South Yel⁃ low Sea, and China-Japan EEZ delimitation in the East China Sea. The equitable principle can be applied to China-Japan continental shelf delimitation in the East China Sea.
Keywords: DPRK; ROK; Japan; USSR; maritime jurisdiction; maritime delimitation
QI Huaigao is Professor and Vice Dean of Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.
