South Korea to strengthen control over Dokdo

South Korea’s maritime ministry said Wednesday it will work to bring back and protect seals at the country’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, a move apparently aimed at boosting the country’s control over the islets also claimed by Japan.In an annual policy report to the president, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it will also seek to strengthen the country’s control over other uninhabited islands, state-run Yonhap news agency reported. “Unlike Japan, which even takes control of submerged rocks by constructing various facilities, our control of outermost islands has been somewhat inadequate, while the number of inhabited islands continues to drop,” the ministry said, adding it will build permanent structures such as observation posts on 23 key islands.The effort to bring back seals to Dokdo will help improve the environment and ecosystem in the area while also strengthening the country’s official control of the islets, it said.The ministry also reported plans to build a regional logistics hub by linking the country’s seaports with major railways of China and Russia.“The ministry plans to set up a comprehensive network of distribution routes in the Pacific and Northeast Asian region where a massive economic bloc will emerge following the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),” it said.TPP is a multilateral free trade agreement that currently involves 12 countries, including the United States, Japan and Canada. South Korea, too, is considering participating in the ongoing negotiations for the trade agreement widely seen as a U.S. counter to China’s rise.The ministry said the distribution network would include new shipping routes through the Arctic, which it will continue to develop for a commercial run starting in 2020.