South Korea and China held a meeting on fisheries cooperation on Tuesday, resuming the regular consultations that have been suspended for nearly two years over the neighbors’ diplomatic feud. The 10th South Korea-China meeting on fisheries cooperation held in China’s Xiamen was the first session of the previously biannual meeting since July 2016. The neighbors’ rift over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense shield, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea halted the bilateral meeting launched in mid-2012 over the past two years.
The vice director-general meeting discussed joint measures to stop illegal fishing by Chinese boats in South Korean waters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Both sides agreed that illegal fishing by Chinese boats on the South Korean side of the West Sea has been trending down since early 2017 but voiced concerns over continuing illegalities and violence by Chinese fishermen coming to South Korean waters.
South Korea called on China to take “strong and effective” measures to stop them, and China, in return, stressed their ongoing efforts to crack down on such activities and educate Chinese fishermen on the issue, the ministry said. The two sides agreed to “actively use” the meeting as a channel to discuss bilateral cooperation on fisheries and improve the fishing environment, it said. They also decided to host the next session of the meeting in South Korea later this year. The resumption of the meeting comes as South Korea and China are increasing efforts to bring back bilateral cooperation and exchanges after the THAAD feud badly hurt them over the last two years.