Recently, South Korea seems to have been quite prominent.
At times, they request giant pandas from China as gifts, and at other times, they announce the discovery of a huge natural gas field off the eastern coast of Korea.
Regarding the panda request, China seems to treat it as a joke for now, considering that most other countries request pandas on lease, while Korea directly requests them as a gift, which seems rather fanciful.
As for the announcement of discovering a super-large gas field, it did attract attention, but upon further investigation, there are some puzzling aspects to it.
The so-called discovery of a giant natural gas field was stated by Yoon Suk-yeol that South Korea's exploration team found abundant signs of oil and gas in the waters of Yeongil Bay, Pohang City, Gyeongsangbuk-do on the eastern coast. Theoretically, the natural gas reserves exceed 14 billion cubic meters.
However, these are just signs? Theoretical calculations? 14 billion cubic meters? Isn't this overly optimistic, celebrating before the game even begins?
In fact, South Korea did not definitively announce the discovery of a large-scale natural gas field.
They only found structural signs that suggest the existence of oil and gas resources in the eastern coastal area.
The so-called giant gas field currently exists only in theory.
How big is 14 billion cubic meters of reserves exactly?
To step back, even if Korea's claims were true and there is indeed a gas field with 14 billion cubic meters of reserves in Pohang's waters, this reserve is not particularly large.
Internationally, this would be considered a medium to lower-level gas field.
For instance, in the East China Sea, there is an oil and gas storage area known as the "West Lake Depression," where several natural gas fields such as "Tianwaitian," "Baoyunting," "Cansnow," "Broken Bridge," and "Chunxiao" have been developed.
Among them, the Chunxiao gas field has reserves exceeding 70 billion cubic meters.
However, even so, these gas fields are not widely known domestically because their reserves are not particularly large.
Internationally, natural gas fields considered large typically have recoverable reserves exceeding 87 billion cubic meters, while those considered giant usually have reserves exceeding 200 billion cubic meters.
For South Korea, this reserve is not significant but still very important.
Some may think that 14 billion cubic meters is not much domestically, but for South Korea, with its small geographical area, it represents a considerable resource.
However, this is not the case.
Despite its small geographic size, South Korea is one of the world's major economies, with value added in manufacturing surpassing that of countries like India and France, ranking fifth globally.
South Korea also ranks high in terms of petroleum and natural gas consumption, almost entirely reliant on imports for these resources.
Currently, South Korea consumes nearly 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. Even if all 14 billion cubic meters of these reserves were extracted, it would only meet Korea's demand for one quarter, making this gas field's reserves not particularly large.
However, from another perspective, if this gas field does exist and is successfully developed, it would have significant implications for South Korea's domestic energy development industry.
South Korea's dependence on oil and gas exceeds 99%, with only sporadic domestic oil and gas extraction.
In the southwestern waters of South Korea, there are some small-scale oil and gas extractions, but production is limited.
Over the years, South Korea has been accumulating technological experience. Despite these low-yield "scraps" contributing little to the South Korean economy, they have laid the foundation for South Korea's technological development.
Due to its small geographical area, dense population, and lack of resources, the development of marine resources is particularly important for South Korea.
Exploration and development of marine resources require long-term accumulation of technology, and South Korea's pursuit in domestic oil and gas exploration and production primarily aims at accumulating such technological expertise.
It is well known that there are maritime territorial disputes between South Korea, China, and Japan.
The dispute between Japan and South Korea over Dokdo has a long history. Although Dokdo is currently controlled by South Korea, the dispute over Suyan Reef is different, as China does not recognize it as a baseline for territorial waters.
Nevertheless, South Korea unilaterally considers Suyan Reef as part of its territorial waters, even extending its territorial waters to the east of Zhejiang.
In the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Sea of Japan, South Korea has maintained a strong presence, understandably because these waters contain abundant underwater resources, which South Korea naturally finds difficult to resist.
Suyan Reef is only an underwater reef, not even protruding above the water surface.
Unlike Japan, which faces the vast Pacific Ocean to the east, South Korea is surrounded by powerful neighbors, with no neighbor being easily offended by South Korea. Located at the southern end of the peninsula, South Korea's living space is extremely limited.
Over the years, South Korea has been entangled with our country on issues such as Dokdo and Suyan Reef, and has even lobbied internationally to rename the Sea of Japan as the East Sea of Korea.
The main reason is that the ocean is crucial for South Korea's future development.
The news of South Korea's announcement of the discovery of a natural gas field is so exciting that perhaps they feel they have finally seen hope after many years of effort.
Whether this "giant gas field" can come true or not, South Korea will surely stir up greater waves in the East Asian waters in the future, because for South Korea, this is the only way to expand its living space and the only way out.
In conclusion, whether this announcement becomes true or not, the development of marine resources will continue to be one of the key areas for South Korea's future development, and it is the direction where South Korea tirelessly strives to secure more living space.
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