Chinese Yellow Sea structure moved outside PMZ, 20 days after Lee’s removal remark

[Financial News] Work has begun to relocate the Chinese structure in the Yellow Sea that had triggered diplomatic friction between South Korea and China. This comes 20 days after President Lee Jae Myung stated at a meeting in Shanghai on the 7th, held during his overseas trip, that the Chinese Yellow Sea structure would be moved.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 27th, relocation has started for the "management facility," one of the Chinese offshore structures in the West Sea Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) that had been at the center of controversy between South Korea and China. China has installed three structures in the Yellow Sea. Among them, the management facility, which had raised the greatest concern about encroaching on South Korea’s waters, was confirmed to be the first to be relocated. It was reported that, through consultations between the two sides, a consensus was reached that removing the management facility first would be the best approach. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the other two structures will also be moved.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China also announced that the relocation work would run from the 27th through the 31st. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China stated at a regular press briefing that the Yellow Sea structure is currently being moved.
China’s decision to relocate the Yellow Sea structure was agreed at the South Korea-China summit earlier this month. After his summit with Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, President Lee Jae Myung said that China would relocate the management facility for the fish farm. The two countries also agreed, through working-level consultations, to clearly delineate the maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea.
rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter