1. The third meeting on fisheries cooperation between the Republic of Korea and China took place in Yantai in the Chinese province of Shandong on July 25 with relevant officials from the Foreign Ministries and fisheries authorities of the two countries in attendance.  The purpose of the meeting was to seek ways to improve the fisheries order in the West Sea.

* The ROK delegation was led by Lee Sang-deok, the Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs, and comprised of other relevant officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Korea Coast Guard, the West Sea Fisheries Supervision Office, the Embassy in China and the Consulate General in Qingdao.

* The Chinese delegation was headed by Qiu Xuejun, Deputy Director-General of the Centre for Consular Assistance and Protection under the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and included other relevant officials of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Police Agency, and the Chinese Embassy to the ROK as well as the fisheries authorities of Shandong and Liaoning Provinces.

2. The meeting marked the first of its kind since the ROK and China had agreed early this year to hold the meeting on a regular and biannual basis. In the meeting, the two sides reviewed the improvements made in the first half of this year in fishing operations in the West Sea. They focused on the progress in follow-up measures to the ROK-China Joint Statement for Future Vision concluded during President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to China in June, which calls for cooperation in various fields to improve the order in fishing operations in the West Sea.

3. The two sides agreed to maintain bilateral consultations in a bid to implement the agreements stipulated in the aforementioned Statement. They also agreed to cover short-term measures, such as crackdowns on illegal fishing operations and education of fishermen, as well as mid- to long-term measures, including the protection of fishery resources and the restructuring of their fisheries, in future consultations with the aim to improve the order in fishing operations in the West Sea.

4. The two sides agreed to hold their fourth meeting in the ROK late this year.


                       Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation