유엔해양법협약(UNCLOS)상의 이어도의 법적 지위와 해양경계획정에 관한 연구 (A Study on the Legal Status and the Maritime Boundary Delimitation of Ieodo under the UNCLOS)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국해양대학교 국제해양문제연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 해항도시문화교섭학 / 18호 / 93 ~ 122페이지
· 저자명 : 최진이

초록

우리나라는 인접국인 중국 및 일본과 좁은 해역을 사이에 두고 마주하고 있어 대부분의 해양경계가 중첩되어 있지만, 인접국들과 해양경계획정 합의를 매듭 짓지 못하고 있다. 1974년 일본과 체결한 ‘대륙붕 북부구역 경계획정에 관한 협정(1978년 발효)’에 따라 설정된 대륙붕 경계가 우리나라의 유일한 해양경계이다. 그러나 이는 해수면 경계가 아니라, 해저와 하층토로 정의되는 대륙붕 경계이기 때문에 완전한 해상경계선으로 보기는 어렵다. 따라서 우리나라의 해양경계선은 존재하지 않는다고 해도 과언이 아니다. 따라서 주변해역의 관할권 문제를 둘러싼 갈등과 분쟁 가능성이 상존하고 있다.
우리나라 「배타적 경제수역 및 대륙붕에 관한 법률」은 중간선까지 관할권을 행사할 수 있도록 규정하고 있지만, 대향국과 그 중간선에 관한 합의가 없기 때문에 우리 정부가 해양자원 관리 및 이용과 개발, 해양환경보전 등 해양정책을 추진하는데 한계가 있을 수밖에 없다. 그렇기 때문에 인접국과의 해양관할권 경합이나 충돌을 원활하게 해결하기 위한 해양경계획정정책을 체계적으로 마련하지 않으면 안 된다.
당면문제 중의 하나인 이어도(離於島)는 지리적으로 중요 해상교통로에 위치하고 있고, 그 주변수역은 부존자원이 풍부하여 해저자원개발에 따른 경제적 가치가 높은 수역이다. 특히 군사적으로 중국 함대가 태평양으로 진출하기 위해서 반드시 통과해야 하는 전략적 요충지로서의 가치가 높게 평가되면서 한중 양국의 관심이 고조되고 있다.
논문은 사실관계 및 법률관계에 기초하여 이어도의 법적 지위를 규명하고, 연안국간의 해양경계획정에 관한 국제법적 질서와 그에 기초한 법리(法理)를 검토하였다. 또한, 유엔해양법협약이 연안국 해양관할권에 미친 영향과 섬이 해양경계획정에 미치는 효과를 간략하게 살펴보고, 이어도의 일반현황과 주변수역을 둘러싼 한중간 갈등배경과 경계획정에 관한 양국의 입장을 살펴보았다. 그리고 이어도 및 그 주변수역에 대한 경계획정의 쟁점과 양국의 법제와 주장을 검토하고, 동북아지역 협력을 위해 나아가야할 바람직한 한중 해양경계획정 방향을 모색하였다.

영어초록

Although the UNCLOS(United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) has been used a round the world as a new maritime order, the conflicts about maritime jurisdiction and territorial sovereignty disputes over island have grown among the Northeast countries. This is because many countries are seeking to utilize the various maritime resources, science research, energy, and to control the traffic of their neighboring maritime area. The jurisdiction problem of Ieodo between Korea and China, hasn't yet been solved by an agreement and it remains in conflict in spite of long term negotiations.
This paper aims to explore the solutions for the dispute on the jurisdiction of Ieodo, risen between Korean and Chinese government. Problem has been risen because EEZ of Korean and China overlaps. Two countries have different criteria, which hinders agreement. Ieodo is geographically situated on a geographically important route, and the surrounding waters it is rich in natural resources. Also The Chinese fleet must pass the waters near Ieodo Island to make inroads into the Pacific Ocean. Therefore Ieodo is a very important place militarily, too.
The Korean government has taken the policy condition that Ieodo and its surrounding waters are included in Korea's jurisdiction according to UNCLOS and its ‘principle of equidistance’, because of the closer distance comparing with China and that there are no special matters about maritime delimitation between Korea and China. That is to say, Korea asserts that Ieodo has been practically under the control of Korea and also it belongs to Korea according to equidistance principles by UNCLOS.
On the other hand, China asserts that the over all fair solution is to consider the formation process of the continental shelf between Korea and China and coastline distance. Also it asserts that the length of seashore, total size of terrain, and population have to be considered according to the equitable principles. In the meantime, two countries(Korea and China) have made some efforts to end the disagreement including the Korea-China fisheries agreement as a temporary step before the formal conclusion of maritime delimitation. Nonetheless, some conflicts have arisen between two countries since they have not reached an agreement about the maritime delimitation. Until the early 2000s, China reacted passively, causing no serious conflict. Recently the issue of Ieodo has been recognized as a comprehensive problem, that needs to be approached using economic, security and international law perspectives. Nowaday, the interested countries such as Japan, North Korea, Russia, the U.S, and direct interest countries like Korea and China, have focused on the issues about Ieodo and its maritime jurisdiction in the complicated Northeast Asia's political situations.
The purpose of this paper is not only to suggest the necessity of mutual agreement based on an international law between the two nations, Korea and China, but also to propose the ways to reinforce the practical jurisdiction for Ieodo and the maritime science base through a comprehensive maritime policy and there lated legislation. Establishing a maritime cooperation system among Northeast Asian Countries was also suggested as the Ieodo problem solution in the result part of the study. This paper proposes that Korea government need to set up the governance system about various maritime issues, to lead to collective cooperation for the regional maritime governance and suggest the principle and the criterion in the domestic perspective and to reinforce the related diplomatic capacity in the extrinsic perspective. It is well-known to us that UNCLOS considers a variety of points such as the sovereignty over islands of all countries, the facilitation of international transportation, peaceful usage of the maritime, the preservation of maritime living resources and maritime environment and aims to establish the maritime law and order for realizing the above-suggested points. Therefore, the peaceful usage in seas around the Ieodo by Korea government under the control of international approval will be contributing the co-prosperity among Northeast Asian countries, the international economic order as well as achieving the spirit of international maritime law for co-prosperity of mankind.

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