Syngman Rhee Line

[citation needed] The Proclamation asserted that the "Government of the Republic of Korea holds and exercises the national sovereignty" over the maritime area, suggesting the claim was for a wide extension of territorial waters.

In initial statements, Rhee maintained that the purpose of the line was to protect Korea's marine resources around the of Japan; therefore it banned non-Korean fishing boats from inside the territory, and Liancourt Rocks in particular.

The Japanese government protested the seizures and unilateral declaration strongly, but the abolition of the line had to wait even for the approval of the Japan-Korea Fishery Agreement in 1965.

[9] Obstacles to its settlement included the fact that there were no formal diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea at the time, that normalization talks were complicated by various compensation claims, and the refusal of the United States to intervene on the issue, regarding it as bilateral.

The conflict also became an issue of nationalism for Japan and South Korea so that, in the course of their negotiations during the postwar years, any semblance of compromise or concession amounted to treason in both countries.

At this point, the territorial dispute was no longer a primary issue due to an increasing pressure to improve bilateral relations, shifting the focus from the "peace line" to the diplomatic and economic affairs such as the fishery negotiations.