CIL hosts Academic Exchange with SLOC, “Fresh Concerns for Maritime Security and Safety”, 30 July 2012

CIL was pleased to host the second academic exchange, “Fresh Concerns for Maritime Security and Safety” with the Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOC) Study Group, Republic of Korea (ROK), on 30 July 2012. The ROK delegation was headed by Judge Jin-Hyun Paik, Member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The SLOC Study Group, based at the Institute of East and West Studies at Yonsei University, brings together a multidisciplinary group of Korean experts and scholars with an in interest in ocean law, policy and science.

The one-day exchange featured welcome addresses by Prof Tommy Koh, Chairman of CIL, Prof Robert Beckman, Director of CIL, and Judge Jin-Hyun Paik. The exchange covered the following topics: Territorial and Boundary Disputes in East Asia, South Korea’s Foreign Policy in Northeast Asia, and Maritime Regime building and Naval Modernisation in East Asia. Discussants included Prof Kwa Chong-Guan of the RSIS (IDSS), Prof Seokwoo Lee of Inha University Law School, CIL Research Fellow Tara Davenport, and RSIS (IDSS) Associate Research Fellow Collin Koh.

CIL Director Prof Beckman delivered a paper on “Safety, Security and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore”. In addition, CIL researchers Ms Tara Davenport and Mr Sanjay Pala Krishnan shared their research on the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and international maritime crimes in Southeast Asia respectively.