South Korea and Japan on Tuesday (June 13) finished their second and final day of negotiations in Tokyo concerning the maritime borders of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs).
A Seoul official said the two sides uated the talks as meaningful, given that they had the chance to clarify, or modify, their positions and prepare for the next round of negotiations.
During the talks at Japans Foreign Ministry, Seoul proposed Dokdo, the countrys easternmost island in the East Sea, as the cardinal line of its EEZ -- a modified stance of Seoul to safeguard Dokdo from Japans attempts to violate South Korean sovereignty.
But the Japanese delegates maintained their stance that Tokyo is entitled to designate Dokdo -- called Takeshima in Japan -- as the starting point of its EEZ, alledging the volcanic island is Japanese territory.
Japan also tried to persuade South Korea to launch a system that requires the two nations to give each other prior notice before conducting maritime surveys in waters where their EEZs overlap.
But South Korea declined to discuss the Japanese initiative, saying it was not on the agenda for discussion.
It was the first time for the two countries to resume negotiations after they failed to reach an agreement during their last round of talks in 2000.
The talks were arranged in April by the two countries vice foreign ministers who met in Seoul to defuse rising tension caused by Japans attempts to conduct hydrographic surveys near Dokdo. The Japanese move was interpreted by Seoul as a strategy to challenge South Koreas sovereignty over Dokdo.
Seoul and Tokyo held four rounds of unsuccessful talks between 1996 and 2000 over the demarcation of their EEZs.
