도서의 영유권 분쟁에서 주권자로서의(à titre de souverain) 행위가 갖는 법적 함의― 싱가포르와 말레이시아의 페드라 브랑카 도서 분쟁에 대한 국제사법재판소의 판결을 중심으로 ―

As regards the dispute over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge in the entrance of the Singapore Straits, Malaysia and Singapore brought the dispute before the International Court of Justice on July 14, 2003 in accordance to the Special Agreement which had been concluded on February 6, 2003. The ICJ rendered its decision that the sovereignty over Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore. Having found that Malaysia had the ancient original title to the island, the Court considered the question whether it could hold the title to the disputed island continuously since then. In this regard, the Court determined that as Singapore’s relevant activities were conducted à titre de souverain, they were more persuasive to the Court than Malaysia’s acquiesence to them. The Court concluded that the sovereignty over Pedra Branca had passed to Singapore. It should be noted that the Court ruled in favor of Singapore attaching considerable importance to the acts à titre de souverain. It is because this dispute shares a lot of similarities with Dokdo issue between Korea and Japan. As both of the islands were uninhabited islands until the late nineteenth century, neither has been regarded as economically significant as large islands for a long time. So, the acts à titre de souverain in respect to the island should be examined closely in preparation for a possible dispute settlement between Korea and Japan. Also, we can not emphasize the importance of this case too much as one of the leading cases brought before the ICJ. This case is the third to be brought to international dispute settlement by a state of the ASEAN since the Temple of Preah Vihear case.