South Korea dispatched a ship on the night of July 2. Jung You-sub from the National Oceanographic Research Institute announced the next day that the survey had begun.

A Foreign Ministry official said Tokyo could retaliate with its own survey. The coast guard said it was patrolling to ward off any intrusions into Japanese waters by South Korean boats. According to the coast guard, the ship entered the disputed exclusive economic zone around 6:40 a.m. on July 5.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said July 3 that Japan cannot accept China's deliberately unannounced marine survey in waters near disputed islands over the weekend.

A Chinese ship defied warnings from the Japan Coast Guard and conducted a marine survey in waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea on July 2.

"We cannot accept that the survey was carried out within our side of the EEZ without prior notice," said Abe.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 8, 2006
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