The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has officially raised the possibility that there may be up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves in the East Sea. This brought the Korea-Japan joint development zone (JDZ), known as the 7th mining block, back into the spotlight. There are many speculations that Japan will proceed with independent development once the joint development agreement ends in June 2028. However, Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul has drawn a line saying that the JDZ will not belong to Japan.
When asked about the 7th mining block In an interview with Yonhap NewsTV on the 6th, Cho emphasized that “the issue of the JDZ agreement has been continuously discussed at all levels, and even if an agreement is not reached, the area will not belong to any country.”
He added, “(If the agreement is terminated) the area will remain as an undetermined boundary zone, which requires separate negotiations to delimitate the maritime boundaries,” and “Including this issue, we are preparing in various ways.”
The JDZ agreement was signed on January 30, 1974, and Korea and Japan began exploration and drilling in 1980. Although a small amount of oil and gas was discovered, Japan suddenly declared a halt to development in 1986 due to a lack of economic feasibility.
Due to Japan’s unilateral halt, Korea also suspended the development of the 7th mining block as the JDZ agreement stipulates that exploration and drilling must be jointly performed by both countries. Hence, the development has been halted for nearly 40 years.
This has led to speculation about Japan’s true intentions for independent development of the 7th mining block. This is due to the United Nations (UN) International Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982. According to this law, continental shelves are not divided based on which country they are connected to, but divided into 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones. In cases like Korea and Japan where they overlap, a median line is drawn dividing it in half. In this case, 90% of the 7th mining block would belong to Japan.
