Seoul proposes joint fishing zone, N. Korean port modernization
SEJONG. KAZINFORM South Korea's oceans minister said Thursday the two Koreas will look into ways of creating a joint fishing zone near the western sea border and overhaul old North Korean ports as the first step in cooperation in the fisheries and maritime sector.
Kim Young-choon, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said he discussed inter-Korean projects with North Korean officials during his recent visit to Pyongyang when he accompanied President Moon Jae-in to his third summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Yonhap reports.
At the summit last week, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to set up a joint fishing zone near the tensely guarded sea border, between South Korea's Baengnyeong Island and Jangsan Cape, a North Korean naval base. Just 17 kilometers separates the two areas.
"Among fisheries cooperation projects, the joint fishing zone may not be on the list of U.N. sanctions," Kim said in a meeting with reporters. "If fishermen of the two Koreas catch fish in each other's zone under the give-and-take framework, it may not be subject to economic sanctions. I think the Seoul government could ask the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee to review this matter."
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