Defense & Security

Korean research ship in EEZ around Takeshima

Courtesy of 8th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters
South Korean research vessel Hae Yang 2000

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:54 JST, August 19, 2022

Japan has lodged a strong protest with Seoul after a South Korean research vessel apparently conducted a maritime survey in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone near the Takeshima islands in Shimane Prefecture, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry conveyed through diplomatic channels its demand for an immediate halt to the survey.

This was the second maritime survey by a South Korean research vessel detected in Japan’s EEZ this year, following one in May.

According to the ministry and other sources, the research vessel is the Hae Yang 2000, which belongs to a South Korean national maritime research organization.

On Thursday afternoon, a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat spotted the research vessel throwing what appeared to be wires into the water in the EEZ, about 100 kilometers northeast of Takeshima.