"Did you say the Ieodo Ocean Research Station?"
At President Kim Jae-chun's question, Seok-won met his gaze and answered calmly.
"That's right."
Ieodo was a submerged reef located 149 kilometers southwest of Jeju Island.
The highest point of the reef lay four meters below sea level, so unless the waves were high, it could not be seen at all.
Because of that, the people of Jeju had long believed Ieodo to be a phantom island where fishermen who went out to sea and never returned ended up, and many legends about it had been passed down, appearing only in stormy, wind-lashed seas.
Even setting aside such historical lore, among the three neighboring countries, Korea, China, and Japan, Ieodo lay closest to the Korean Peninsula and clearly fell within Korea's jurisdiction.
To make this fact unmistakable, the government installed a beacon on Ieodo in 1987 and proclaimed to the international community that these waters were under Korean control.
Soon after, with the aim of further solidifying that jurisdiction, the government began pushing in 1995 for the construction of an ocean research station, standing 36 meters above the water and covering an area of a little over 400 pyeong.
"What is it you want to propose?"
"I heard that the structure being built by Hyunwoo Construction is scheduled to be transported to Ieodo and installed in earnest starting this year."
When President Kim Jae-chun turned his head to look as if to confirm, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il answered.
"That's correct. As far as I know, construction is underway with the goal of completion in the first half of 2003, two years from now."
Seok-won looked back and forth between President Kim Jae-chun and Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il with a serious expression and asked.
"Why are we spending such a substantial budget, over 20 billion won, to build an ocean research station on Ieodo?"
"Well, obviously, it's to use it to observe the marine ecosystem and the weather."
At Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il's reply, Seok-won responded evenly.
"Ieodo sits right along the path that more than half of the typhoons heading toward the Korean Peninsula pass through. If there's an ocean research station there, we can directly observe typhoons eight to twelve hours before they make landfall, improving the accuracy of weather forecasts and reducing the damage. That is certainly an advantage."
"You know your stuff."
"But that's just the surface reason. The real purpose is to further solidify our jurisdiction over Ieodo, isn't it?"
It was a sharp observation, but since it was an open secret that everyone in the know already understood, President Kim Jae-chun did not bother to hide it and readily admitted it.
"That's right. It is unquestionably our waters, so shouldn't we drive a stake ahead of time, so the neighboring countries don't get any funny ideas?"
"That is absolutely right. More than arguing a hundred times with words, continuously managing it and exercising effective control is what matters most."
"So why did you suddenly bring up the Ieodo Ocean Research Station?"
Seok-won leaned forward in his seat and said.
"Installing an ocean research station is fine, but how about going a step further and turning Ieodo into a real island?"
"...?"
President Kim Jae-chun furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding.
"A real island? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean exactly what I said. Let's turn Ieodo into a definite island, not a submerged reef."
"...!"
The two men could not hide their bewilderment at the completely unexpected proposal.
Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il looked at him with a stunned expression.
"So you're saying we should dump rocks and soil into the middle of the sea and turn Ieodo into an artificial island?"
"That's right."
Wearing an expression of disbelief, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il soon shook his head skeptically.
"It seems you don't really know. The waters around Ieodo aren't extraordinarily deep, but the seas there are so rough that even installing the structure for the ocean research station is said to be extremely difficult. If we tried to build an artificial island in a place like that, it would take an enormous budget and a tremendous amount of effort."
President Kim Jae-chun, who was sitting with his arms crossed, also showed a negative reaction.
"Japan and China are already uncomfortable with us building an ocean research station on Ieodo as it is. If we go as far as to build an artificial island, it could easily turn into a serious diplomatic dispute."
But Seok-won did not back down and pressed his point again.
"That's exactly why we need to build an artificial island now."
Facing the two men, who still looked unconvinced, Seok-won explained his reasoning.
"Under international law, a reef is not recognized as territory. But once it becomes an island, we can establish an EEZ and claim sovereignty over the surrounding waters."
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the waters over which a specific country exercises its economic rights are called the Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ for short.
In general, a country has the right to explore and develop fisheries and mineral resources within 200 nautical miles, about 370 kilometers, from its coastline.
"If that happens, the vast, fish-rich golden fishing grounds between Jeju Island and Ieodo will all become Korean waters."
"Hmm."
"And not only that. The waters around Ieodo are estimated to contain thousands of billions of barrels of crude oil and several billion tons of natural gas, so there's no need to explain their economic value any further."
In fact, the seas around Ieodo, where the continental shelf spreads widely, had long been regarded as an area highly likely to hold large deposits of crude oil and natural gas.
The two of them were well aware of that, so before they knew it, they were listening to Seok-won with serious expressions.
"On top of that, the southern shipping route that passes through Ieodo and the surrounding waters is practically Korea's lifeline. 99.8% of the crude oil imported into the country, and 100% of its grain and raw materials, pass through there."
Seok-won's voice sank to a low, steady tone.
"If another country were to occupy this place and block maritime traffic, it could effectively strangle Korea, which is already cut off to the north by the armistice line and is, in practical terms, no different from an island."
"Hmm."
President Kim Jae-chun let out a low, heavy sound, his face stiffening.
Watching the president's reaction out of the corner of his eye, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il straightened his posture and said,
"As you say, the government knows very well how militarily and economically important Ieodo is. And the same is true for Japan and China, who are locked in sharp conflict with us over the EEZ boundary."
Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il continued, letting out a sigh.
"They already raise all sorts of objections and try to interfere even with the construction of the ocean research station. If we go so far as to build an artificial island, there's no way those two countries will just sit by and do nothing."
Ieodo lies 149 kilometers southwest of Marado, making it closest to Korea, but it was also 276 kilometers from Japan's Torishima and 287 kilometers from China's Xishan Island, which meant there was an overlap among the three countries.
'Not just Ieodo, but both the West Sea and the South Sea as well. The three countries are packed in so closely that disputes are bound to happen.'
Just as he was thinking that, President Kim Jae-chun rubbed his chin with one hand and said,
"It's within our EEZ, and we're effectively occupying it. As Chief Woo said, if we make a fuss and blow this up unnecessarily, we could end up giving the other countries an excuse to turn Ieodo into a territorial dispute area, like Dokdo."
Seok-won replied in a low voice.
"That could happen. In fact, if it's China and Japan, they will definitely try to pick a fight and turn it into a disputed area."
"Then doesn't that mean we should all the more avoid building an artificial island?"
At Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il's words, Seok-won immediately pushed back.
"Do you really think that just because we take a passive stance, they'll leave Ieodo alone forever?"
President Kim Jae-chun's eyebrows twitched as he asked,
"Are you saying Japan will try to take Ieodo?"
Seok-won met the president's eyes and answered in a confident tone.
"Not just Japan. China will also be constantly looking for a chance to snatch our seas."
Hearing that, President Kim Jae-chun frowned.
"Japan, maybe. But isn't it going too far to say China would do something like that?"
At that, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il also chimed in from the side.
"Japan is certainly a formidable opponent, but as for China, our navy can more than handle them."
At the time, China was still a far-behind, underdeveloped country, so underestimating it might have seemed natural.
But Seok-won, who knew all too well how frighteningly fast China was catching up to Korea, let out a bitter smile to himself.
"Of course, that may be true right now. But can you really guarantee that China won't become a threat in the future?"
"No matter how you look at it…"
Seok-won looked at the two men with a serious expression and said.
"Please don't underestimate China's potential. It has a population of over 1.3 billion, vast land close to continental scale, and enormous underground resources. Now that it has even gained wings by joining the WTO, there's a very high chance it will achieve explosive high-speed growth, just like we once did with the Miracle on the Han River."
Faced with his firm tone, the two men could not bring themselves to dismiss it as impossible.
"If China wakes up and grows into a great power, then we'll be squeezed between two giants, Japan and China, on both sides, and our room to manoeuvre will shrink even further. That's why, while China still hasn't fully built up its strength and we only have to deal with Japan, now is the last remaining short window to make Ieodo unquestionably our waters."
President Kim Jae-chun hesitated with a thoughtful expression, then spoke.
"Hmm… Even if what you say is right. Hoo. It's embarrassing to say this myself, but the reality is that if Japan comes out strongly against us, it will be difficult to push back."
"You don't need to worry about that."
At his prompt reply, President Kim Jae-chun looked at him with eyes full of expectation.
"Do you have some way to defuse Japan's backlash?"
Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il, half doubtful and half hopeful, also fixed his gaze on Seok-won's mouth, since he was known for coming up with ingenious solutions.
Seok-won spoke with a faint smile at the corners of his lips.
"Have you ever heard of Okinotorishima (沖ノ鳥島)?"
"Well, I don't think I have."
"It's a tiny reef in the western Pacific, a full 1,700 kilometers away from Tokyo, so that wouldn't be surprising."
Seeing the two of them looking as if to say, Why bring that up out of the blue?, Seok-won continued.
"They call it a reef, but it only sticks about 70 centimeters above sea level, so in reality it's practically the same kind of submerged reef as Ieodo."
"..."
"And yet, starting in 1987, the Japanese government built breakwaters there and poured concrete to turn it into an artificial island about 50 meters in diameter and 3 meters high. Then they added the character shima (島), meaning island, renamed it Okinotorishima, and even installed an unmanned lighthouse."
President Kim Jae-chun slapped his knee with his palm.
"So they pulled a trick to expand their EEZ."
"That's right. If things go according to the Japanese government's intentions, a large portion of the vast western Pacific would end up falling within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone."
Hearing that, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il let out a hollow laugh.
"To pull something that brazen. That's just like those Japanese…"
Then, as a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il's eyes widened.
Seeing that, Seok-won curled one corner of his lips up as if to say, You got it, didn't you?
"Japan did it first, so why wouldn't we be able to do the same?"
President Kim Jae-chun stroked his clean-shaven chin in deep thought, and then a sharp light appeared in his eyes.
"As you say, if we bring up Okinotorishima when Japan protests, we should be able to shut them up."
"But, Your Excellency. Even if we deal with Japan that way, building an artificial island on Ieodo won't cost just a little money. That's what worries me."
Seeing Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il look troubled, Seok-won immediately cut in.
"I'll pay for that."
President Kim Jae-chun asked in surprise,
"What? You're saying you'll pay the money to build the artificial island?"
"That's right."
At his unhesitating answer, Chief of Staff Woo Chun-il looked at him with a worried expression.
"We won't know the exact amount until we draw up a detailed plan, but it will easily exceed 100 billion won at the very least."
"I can cover that much without any problem, so you don't need to worry. However, in exchange for paying the construction cost of the artificial island, I have one condition."
"And what is that?"
"I would like to be granted the rights to explore resources in the waters around Ieodo."
President Kim Jae-chun seemed to catch on to something and leaned forward as he asked,
"Are you planning to search for oil?"
Meeting his gaze, Seok-won answered at once.
"That's right. If we can find crude oil and natural gas in the waters around Ieodo, we would instantly join the ranks of oil-producing nations, and it would be a huge boost to the Korean economy as well."
"An oil-producing nation, huh. Just hearing that makes my heart race."
President Kim Jae-chun closed his eyes quietly.
How wonderful it would be if crude oil were to gush out of this small land that people say has nothing but human resources.
"And not only that. There's also the possibility that natural resources like manganese, cobalt, and lithium are buried in the surrounding continental shelf. If we can extract all of that, it could generate enormous wealth."
After tapping the armrest of the sofa he was sitting on and thinking deeply, President Kim Jae-chun finally made his decision.
"All right. Let's try it, just as you say."
At the answer he had been hoping for, Seok-won's face lit up and he said,
"You've made a wise decision."