South Korea vows 'firm action' over China's claim on submerged rock

SEOUL (Kyodo) -- South Korea said Monday it will take ''firm action'' if China continues to lay jurisdictional claim to Ieodo, a submerged outcropping of rocks in the waters south of southern Jeju Island, according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea's foreign ministry summoned an official from the Chinese Embassy in Seoul and demanded that the Chinese government clarify a news report that Liu Xigui, chief of China's State Oceanic Administration, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the submerged isle lies under China's jurisdictional boundary.

The rock, known in China as Suyan Islet, is submerged 4.6 meters below sea level. It is located 149 kilometers southwest of South Korea's southernmost island of Marado and 247 km northeast of the nearest Chinese island Tongdao.

On Monday, President Lee Myung Bak also reaffirmed South Korea's position that Ieodo is under South Korean control and that the issue is ''basically not a territorial dispute.'' Read More