일본의 영해제도에 대한 비판적 고찰

A Critical Analysis on the Japan's Policy on the Territorial Sea

Japan has a long coastline of approximately 29,751km and hence an extensive continental shelf as well as an EEZ. Its coastline is said to be the sixth longest coastline in the world. It is because Japan's territory is composed of 4 main islands and a lot of small islands. As one of the most developed countries in the world, Japan heavily depends on foreign trade. And it also remains one of the most developed distant-water fishing countries. So, maritime transportation has always been very important to Japan. For these reasons, Japan has adhered to freedom of the high seas as a traditional maritime state. With regard to the breadth of the territorial sea, Japan supported and complied with the 3 nautical mile territorial sea. It did not have straight baselines nor did it establish a contiguous zone even after ratifying the 1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. Japan's policy on the law of the sea, however, began to change dramatically in accordance with the general trends of the law of the sea. In 1977 Japan extended its territorial sea to 12 nautical miles and established a 200 mile fishing zone. Further, Japan adopted the straight baseline system and established an exclusive economic zone when it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1996. Given the foregoing, this article attempted to provide Japan's policy on the territorial sea in the context of its change in the law of the sea. To be more specific, it examined relevant issues on the breadth of the territorial sea, baselines as well as innocent passage of warships, with special emphasis to the comparison with Korea's relevant policy on the law of the sea.