CHINA AND S KOREA TO DISCUSS THE EEZ IN THE EAST SEA BETWEEN CHINA AND THE KOREAN PENNINSULA - WHERE CHINA WANTS ITS LARGER SHARE DUE TO ITS LARGER COAST LINE AS OPPOSED TO THE INTERNATIONAL DEMARCATION OF 12 MILES

Korea and China on Tuesday discussed areas where their so-called exclusive economic zones at sea overlap, leading to sometimes bloody clashes between Chinese fishermen and Korean maritime police.

The talks were the first on the problem in seven years. Officials from the two sides met for two-and-a-half hours and, while making no progress on the issue itself, agreed to hold regular meetings once a year.

Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Seoul's lead negotiator, said, "The issue is thorny and delicate. It can't be settled in one or two meetings."

The Chinese representative Liu Zhenmin said the most important thing is “that the negotiations got underway at all.”

The overlapping EEZ is one of the stickiest issues in Seoul-Beijing relations. The two countries held no fewer than 14 rounds of talks from 1996 to 2008 without reaching agreement, and pundits expect the fresh talks to take another few years.

It is common around the world for two countries with overlapping EEZs to draw a boundary in the middle of the disputed areas, but China insists its EEZ should stretch further east toward Korea considering the length of its coastline, continental area and population.

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