A Republic of Korea perspective

Naval strategy and operational focus are shifting toward regional and littoral warfare. The application to extended jurisdictional zones of rules formulated for 3 nm territorial seas is creating international tension as well as new roles for navies. But the argument that the Navy should control the EEZ has fundamental weaknesses. Tentative recommendations are given for reforming the rules of naval warfare in light of extended jurisdictional zones. owing importance of Rules of Engagement (ROE) reflects a greater degree of control of the military by politicians. This and the spread of high tech weapons have made the operations of naval forces extremely complex. ROE are now being rewritten around three key elements—separation of prohibitions from permissions, determination of the political objective, and conformity between the rules and the force profile and objective. ROE must also be separated from rules of behavior, which are the province of the military. And multilateral naval operations in the same EEZ must have the same ROE.