On Thursday, November 17, from 10:00-14:00 (KST), ICAS Executive Director Dr. Nong Hong participated in the Seventh International Conference on the Law of the Sea, with a theme of “Law of the Sea for the Next Generation: Effectiveness of UNCLOS Revisited.” While broadcasted online, a majority of the conference was held out of Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Dr. Hong presented in Panel 5: Voices of the Next Generation, speaking on the topic of “China’s Chance to Revisit the Role of UNCLOS in Ocean Governance and Dispute Settlement in the South China Sea.”
EVENT DESCRIPTION
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be hosting the Seventh International Conference on the Law of the Sea from November 15 to 17, 2022 together with the Korean Society of International Law and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The International Conference on the Law of the Sea has been held since 2016 to discuss the latest trends and progress in the research on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and to provide a venue for the judiciary and academia to share their invaluable insights on ways to develop the law of the sea.
This year, the conference will be held under the theme of “Law of the Sea for the Next Generation: Effectiveness of UNCLOS Revisited.” It is the second of the three-year “Law of the Sea for the Next Generation” series, which is designed to take stock of the challenges presented at sea and explore what lies ahead for the law of the sea for the next generation. The objective of this year’s conference is to review the judicial decisions made under the UNCLOS regime, look into whether UNCLOS has been effective enough to ensure the rule of law in the ocean, and discuss how the law of the sea should evolve to keep the rule of law working in our oceans.
In the first two sessions of the conference, panelists will discuss whether UNCLOS has been effective enough to achieve its aim, which is to promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans and to establish a stable legal order for the oceans through its zonal-based approach. The remaining sessions will be focused on the institutional aspects of UNCLOS, asking whether the dispute settlement mechanism of the convention has been solid enough to uphold the regime and achieve its objectives.
This year’s conference will be graced with the presence of distinguished experts in the law of the sea. Albert J. Hoffman, President of ITLOS, will deliver his congratulatory remarks in person at the conference. ITLOS Judge Jin-Hyun Paik will give the keynote speech, and his colleague judges and renowned international law scholars and practitioners in and out of the country will also take part in the discussions. The conference will also provide a venue for early career academics in the field of the law of the sea to share their observations on what we should be aiming for in navigating the regime to ensure a healthy and resilient ocean for our future generation.
The Seventh International Conference on the Law of the Sea will take place in Seoul, Korea from November 15 to 17, 2022 in a hybrid format, and participants from abroad will be able to join the conference either online or offline.
