This research examines the entanglement of geopolitical power and geoscientific knowledge through the case study of East Asian oceanography. Surrounded by historically conflicted nations—South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Japan, and China—marginal seas in East Asia have been one of the hotspots of global geopolitics throughout the twentieth century. While there has been great scientific interest in the geophysical processes of East Asian waters, intense geopolitical tensions have critically conditioned what oceanographers can and cannot study about the region.
My project examines how maritime conflicts, such as the competing exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims, have confined oceanographic research to national boundaries and prohibited transnational cooperation. I further analyze how a network of international oceanographers responded to this challenge as they attempted a border-crossing survey of East Asian waters in the 1990s. In particular, I focus on the material and rhetorical tactics developed by these scientists to circumvent and appropriate complex border problems. Highlighting the strategies that enabled the charting of bordered seas, my research shows how our geopolitical regimes on maritime territories critically shape geoscientific knowledge of troubled waters.