Professor Lee Woong-Hyeon (R) in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency's correspondent in Seoul (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Countries should not give up theefforts to cite, utilise and adopt international norms for thepeaceful settlement of the problems in the East Sea, President of theGeopolitics Institute of the Republic of Korea (RoK), Professor Lee Woong-Hyeonhas said.
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, the RoK scholarsaid that the Tu Chinh reef (internationally known as Vanguard Bank) in the westernmostarea of the Spratly islands, sits well within the 200 nautical miles of Vietnam’sexclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The return of Chinese geological survey vessel group HaiyangDizhi 8 in areas near the reef have infringed on Vietnam’s EEZ, he stated.
Lee highlighted that there is a legal framework for securityand peace in this sea besides the general and traditional principle of freenavigation, adding that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) isthe foremost legal frame of reference with which Vietnam can strengthen its ownposition.
He recalled that the Permanent Court ofArbitration (PCA) dismissed China’s nine-dash line claim as groundless in 2016.
According to the scholar, in an internationalcrisis threatening a state’s security and sovereignty, the most importantstance a state should take is to maintain strategic, theoretical and policyconsistency, which could gather international support and could get thenormatively stronger position.
He also stressed the need for academics to studyand research the related maritime history of this area, preparing for thepossible debate on to whom the historically and internationally legitimate sovereignof this area should belong.-VNA
