ABSTRACT

Maritime co-operation between China and Korea has a long history that dates back more than a thousand years when ancient Korea commenced trade with ancient China through Shandong Province via the Yellow Sea route. China has been the closest ally in terms of both technology and culture, with Korea from 1945 until the present day. Following the dormant period of 1945 to 1979, China commenced an 'open door policy', which reactivated maritime co-operation. This co-operation was in particular propelled by the epochmaking establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Korea in August 1992 and strengthened further by a series of maritime talks and the signing of a maritime agreement on May 27th 1993 and its entry into force on June 28th that year.