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| ▲ This undated file photo shows Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing (C) attending an event hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
Chinese envoy-steel structures
China's top envoy says issue of disputed steel structures in Yellow Sea making positive progress
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- China's top envoy to South Korea said Wednesday the issue of removing disputed steel structures built in the overlapping waters of the Yellow Sea is making progress in a positive direction.
Chinese Ambassador Dai Bing made the remark at an event hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Seoul to commemorate the upcoming Lunar New Year, after China's foreign ministry announced last month that work was under way to remove one of the three steel structures in the sea zone where the two countries' exclusive economic zones overlap.
It is making progress in a positive direction, Dai told reporters.
Dai pointed to two rounds of summits between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jiping, including the latest in Beijing, where they discussed the maritime issue. The ambassador added that the countries are stepping up working-level exchanges and need to follow through on what their leaders agreed on.
China built two semisubmersible buoys in 2018 and 2024, and a fixed steel platform in 2022 in the Provisional Maritime Zone. The issue has been a source of tension in bilateral relations, as Seoul has regarded the installations as Beijing laying the potential groundwork for future territorial claims.
On the ban of Korean culture in China, or the so-called "hallyu ban," Dai said the term was inaccurate and inappropriate, reiterating the Chinese government's official denial that such restrictions have ever been imposed.
We aim to gradually promote beneficial and constructive cultural exchanges, he said.
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