No.122
The Mebassy of the United States of America presents its compliments to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to stile that the Government of the United States has taken note of the Foreign Minister's letter of September 9, 1954 to General John S. Hall, Commender-in-Chief, United Nations Command, regarding the basis for actions taken by the Government of the Republic of Korea to conserve fishery resources by establishing a "conservation boundary line" or "Peace-line".
In the Minister's letter, mention is made of two proclamations of September 28, 1945, by the President of the United States relative to the policy of the United States with respect to the natural resources of the submit and seabed of the continental shelf and with respect to coastal fisheries in certain areas of the high seas.
The Embassy invites invites attention to the Memorandum policy Statement on Continental Shelf and Territorial waters dated February 2, 1955, which the Ambassador handed to the Foreign Minister on February 9th. It appears that the Ministry has not interpreted the two presidential proclamations of September 28, 1945 entirely is accordance with the president's intention in promulgating then. In order that the position of the United States may be dear, the Embassy has been instructed to review the position of the United States with respect to the establishment of fisheries conservation zones in coastal waters.
It should first be emphasized that neither of the Presidential proclamations of September 28, 1945, which the Foreign Minister cited in his letter, may properly be used as precedents for the Korean action of unilaterally setting up a "boundary line around the adjacent seas of Korea within which the Republic of Korea would have sole jurisdiction."
Neither of the two Presidential proclamations established any right on the part of the United States to claim jurisdiction and control of any pert of the high seas. The proclamation relating to the 'Policy of the United States with Respect to the Natural Resources of the Subsoil and Sea Bed of the Continental Shelf' had only to do with jurisdiction ever the natural resources of the subsoil and sea bed of the continental shelf, not with jurisdiction over the high seas above the continental shelf.
The second proclamation had to do, as was pointed out in the aforementioned Memorandum, with the 'policy of the United States with Respect to Coastal Fisheries in Certain Areas of the High Seas.' This Proclamation concerned the regulation and control by the United States of fishing activities in explicitly bounded conservation tones which the United States Right regard it as proper to establish. Only Where such fishing activities had been or should thereafter be developed and maintained by the United States alone would the United States take unilateral action to establish such conservation zones.
In those areas were fishing activities had been or should thereafter be legitimately developed and maintained jointly by nationals of the United states and nationals of other States, explicitly bounded conservation zones might be established under agreements between the United States and such other States; and all fishing activities is such zones would be subject to regulation and control as provided in such agreements.
The Presidential proclamation at September 28, 1954 relative to coastal fisheries has never been implemented, but the position of the United States is that, although coastal states have an interest in fisheries in adjacent seas, conservation measures with respect to high seas fisheries must be taken in agreement with other countries having legitimate interests in fishing in such waters. Furthermore, the United States Government is of the view that there is no rule of international law requiring it to recognise as valid actions of coastal states in claiming sovereignty over areas of adjacent waters theretofore recognized as high seas, and the United States has consistently refused to recognise such actions.
American Embassy,
Seoul, April 1, 1955.
P PUHughes/1m