Chapter 516: Juyoung Hong (43) |
There was one particular offshore oil field that Korea paid close attention to
As a matter of fact, they actually conducted an investigation into it.
It was the Seventh Mining Area located just below the Fifth Mining Area, which covered Jeju Island.
This was the very place Deputy Director Han referred to.
"In 1970, the government designated seven mining areas on the domestic continental shelf and started drilling them under the Undersea Mineral Resources Development Act.
And the government's drilling area reached as far as the Okinawa Trench, Japan. In particular, this was the case for the Seventh Mining Area. It was the biggest mining area. Back then, there were no problems with that mining law."
After she mentioned she would take care of my concerns, I wondered what kind of favor she would ask me in return.
Of course, I thought I knew what she wanted.
When she mentioned Chaesan Lee, she clearly used the expression 'betrayer' , describing him as Japan's puppet. He was also described as a human waste.
I didn't expect she would mention the Seventh Mining Area though.
She paused for a moment and checked my expression, so I nodded at her to continue. "Because even then, the International Court of Justice wished to support the 'principle of natural extension' of the continental shelf. In other words, even though the vicinity of Okinawa, Japan, is definitely not our territorial waters, as the continental shelf on the southern coast of Korea extends to the vicinity of Okinawa, it is under our jurisdiction. Of course, Japan was startled by our government's move and resisted strongly. However, as I just mentioned, the International Court of Justice at that time supported 'the principle of natural extension' that recognized the limit line of the continental shelf, so Japan came up with another proposal. Their proposal was that both governments should jointly develop the Seventh Mining Area for 50 years from 1978 to 2028 with an equal stake."
"So what?"
"At that time, our government accepted Japan's proposal because Japan was far ahead of us in terms of science and technology and status. In addition, it was an indisputable fact that the continental shelf of Korea extended to Okinawa, Japan. But soon problems arose."
"What problems?"
"It all originated from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can be regarded as the constitution of the sea. Unlike at the time when our government signed the joint development agreement with Japan, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea placed more focus on distance rather than topography when establishing boundaries. So the International Court of Justice's "principle of natural extension" lost its power in determining territories via the spread of the continental shelf around that time. Of course, this did not mean that the determination of the boundary based on the continental shelf was suddenly canned.. That's why there's an organization called the Continental Shelf Limits Committee (CLCS) that still exists under the United Nations. But, obviously, as I mentioned at first, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which can be regarded as the constitution of the sea, has more power than any other maritime law in each country, and it is overwhelmingly advantageous to Japan. So, although Korea now has the scientific technology and capital for joint development, Japan has been ignoring our request to jointly develop the Seventh Mining Area as soon as possible. When the joint development agreement expires in 2028 and the continental shelf limit line is fully determined by distance rather than topography under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, almost all of the Seventh Mining Areas adjacent to Okinawa will belong to Japanese territory."
After she finished her long explanation, I casually opened my mouth.
"Really? If I were in Japan's position, I would do the same. As you know, there are only a few years left. So if Japan can wait only a few years and exclude South Korea as much as possible, they can get as much crude oil and natural gas as the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia alone in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Japan is not stupid."
Of course, I didn't want to argue whether Japan's actions were 'right' or 'wrong'. I just mentioned it when taking into account Japan's national interests and the sadness of a powerful country.
Moreover, I realized that Deputy Director Han was better at acting than I thought.
In other words, I found myself persuaded by her explanation.
Obviously, she must have calculated her actions when she criticized Chaesan Lee as Japan's puppet and betrayer in a vehement tone when she mentioned him to me.
So I responded, "Yes. From the perspective of a country, Japan's actions are in their national interests, and therefore they have taken the right action in that respect. But from the perspective of the victimized country, their actions are obviously not in the right. As you said, our government indeed rejected Japan's offer to develop the Seventh Mining Area jointly dozens of times before, even though they said they would provide all the technology and capital. But now, our government wants to take over the Seventh Mining Area."
"Hahaha!"
As if she noticed that her patriotic appeal to me didn't work out, she stopped manipulating me and spoke out frankly.
At the same time, she took something out from her pocket.
It was a very old photo.
"I think you might have seen this already. I'm sure you have because its original picture is hung on the wall of the headquarters of Myongjin Refinery Company."
"..."
To be honest, I already knew what she said to me because of my grandfather.
It was my grandfather who first started the drilling project on the Seventh Mining Area.
In other words, Myongjin Oil Refinery was the first to accept the government's request for an investigation into the Seventh Mining Area at that time.
At that time, my grandfather was the first to go to the Seventh Mining Area with the dream of Korea becoming an oil producer.
The old photo she showed to me was the one they had taken during the first survey of the Seventh Mining Area by Myongjin Oil Refinery.
In the center of the photo was my grandfather full of expectations.
"[May Korea also become an oil producing country...] Isn't that the quote under the photo hung at the Myongjin Refinery Headquarters? It was also your late grandfather's dream."
When she said that, I leaned against the chair and opened my mouth.
"Oh, you have done a lot of research!"
"Well, it's because only a few years are left for the development of the Seventh Mining Area. If we don't deal with it before then, it's almost certain that we will lose most of the Seventh Mining Area to Japan, and lose our ability to become an oil-producing country."
I kept nodding at her.
Then I added, "Great. I fully understand your point. By the way, have you ever thought of something like this? Myongjin can take over the Seventh Mining Area by itself instead of involving the government. My dream is to be a good son to my parents. Of course, my grandfather is dead, but that's not an excuse for me to give up my dream."
"…"
