China has reportedly maintained a strong presence of warships in the disputed maritime zone near South Korea, one of the United States' two security allies in Northeast Asia.

Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment.

Why It Matters

Under a 2000 agreement, China and South Korea established the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) in the Yellow Sea, where their 230-mile-wide exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap, pending a final maritime boundary settlement between the two nations.

However, China—which operates the world's largest navy by hull count —has been accused of attempting to militarize the Yellow Sea by deploying warships to the PMZ and to waters considered part of South Korea's EEZ.

The persistent presence of the Chinese navy near South Korea, which

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