▲ This undated file photo, provided by the office of Rep. Yi Byeong-jin of the Democratic Party, shows one of the Chinese steel structures built in the overlapping waters of the Yellow Sea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-China steel structures

Cheong Wa Dae welcomes China's removal of steel tower in Yellow Sea as 'meaningful progress'

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday welcomed China's decision to remove one of the three disputed steel structures from their overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea, calling it "meaningful progress."

"Given that the management platform has long been a focus of concern, we welcome the latest move as meaningful progress," the presidential office said.

The government will continue efforts to defend South Korea's maritime rights and interests in the Yellow Sea and ensure a "peaceful and co-prosperous" region, it added.

On Tuesday, China's foreign ministry announced that work was in progress to move one of the three steel structures built in the sea zone where the two countries' exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap.

China built two semisubmersible buoys in 2018 and 2024 and a fixed steel platform in 2022 in the Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ). The issue has been a source of tensions in bilateral relations, as Seoul has regarded the installations as Beijing laying the potential groundwork for future territorial claims.

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