<img src="https://earthpaper.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/post/v2/deploy/71/en-distribution-of-structures-in-the-west-sea-pmz-and-the-boundaries-of-south-koreas-eez.png" class="default-image-preview">Recent satellite imagery has revealed that China has installed large steel structures and observation buoys within the West Sea <dfn data-content="A jointly managed area in the West Sea where the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of South Korea and China overlap, established under the 2000 Korea–China Fisheries Agreement. Only fishing and navigation are permitted in this zone">Provisional Measure Zone (PMZ)</dfn> of the Korean Peninsula. This has led some to interpret that these actions may be related to an expansion of activities near South Korea’s <dfn data-content="A maritime zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in which a coastal state has sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources. It can extend up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline">Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)</dfn>.The Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ), established under the 2000 Korea–China Fisheries Agreement, designates overlapping areas of the two countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) as a jointly managed zone where only fishing and navigation are permitted. In principle, the installation of any structures is prohibited in this area. Nevertheless, China has circumvented this arrangement by installing the steel platform “Shenlan No. 1 (Deep Blue No. 1)” in the PMZ waters on July 2, 2018, and has continued to deploy maritime structures since then.<img src="https://earthpaper.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/post/v2/editor/18/en-chinese-fixed-structures-installed-in-the-korea-china-provisional-measure-zone-pmz.png" class="default-image-preview">A Maxar WorldView satellite image taken on May 30, 2025, reveals a fully assembled jack-up rig with three rig legs erected. The structure has been identified as the decommissioned French-built drilling rig “ATLANTIC AMSTERDAM,” originally constructed in 1982. This suggests that China is in a position to establish a permanent offshore facility capable of conducting drilling operations and performing maintenance at sea.<div class="image-slide"><img src="https://earthpaper.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/post/v2/editor/18/en-210217-fixed-structures-moored-at-dalian-port.png" class="image-slide-preview"><img src="https://earthpaper.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/post/v2/editor/18/en-240416-fixed-structures-moored-at-dalian-port.png" class="image-slide-preview"></div>Satellite imagery analysis of the port in Dalian, China, shows that five fixed structures were docked as of February 17, 2021, but this number had increased to nine by April 16, 2024. This upward trend in fixed structures suggests that China is strengthening its logistical and operational capacity for the deployment and maintenance of maritime installations. Experts assess that this may also influence the expansion of structures within the PMZ.The South Korean government currently believes that China plans to install a total of 12 structures in the Korea–China Provisional Measures Zone and is reviewing possible diplomatic responses. Notably, China has shown a tendency since 2010 to regard parts of the West Sea as its jurisdictional waters, raising the possibility that the installation of structures and buoys within the PMZ may reflect strategic considerations that go beyond mere support for fisheries.Given that such physical structures can be used under international law as a basis for asserting effective control, it is imperative for the South Korean government to develop a clear and coordinated response strategy.<div class="callout">📰 Read the Chosun Biz Article <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-science/2025/06/13/4FAAWJQQGZEGRKONPFL74O3HO4/">China docks suspicious maritime structures at Dalian Port amid Korean tensions</a></div>

Satellite Monitoring of Structural Changes in the Korea–China Provisional Measures Zone of the West Sea

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