A seminar was organised in southwest Gwangju city of the Republic of Korea (RoK) on November 29, focusing the prospect of solving disputes in the East Sea following the PCA ruling on the Philippines’s lawsuit against China’s claims in the waters.


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The event attracted the participation of more than 70 Vietnamese and RoK scholars, along with a crowd of students and locals. 

Participants analysed the situation in the East Sea after the final ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands in July this year. 

They highlighted the significance of the ruling, saying that it opens new opportunities for resolving disputes related to territorial sovereignty in the East Sea on the basis of legal regulations. 

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) and the PCA ruling play a vital role in developing international law in general and the international law of the sea in particular, they affirmed. 

A majority of participants viewed that the East Sea issue is likely to remain complicated in the coming time because China has not adhered to the judgment and even continued its militarisation and activities to spark tensions in the sea. 

They called on all parties involved in the East Sea dispute to respect the ruling and relevant international legal regulations, towards solving disputes by peaceful measures. 

In the framework of the seminar, the organising board arranged an exhibition displaying over 40 maps and photos on Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos before and after China conducted militarisation and activities to change status quo in the archipelagoes.-VNA