Bloody clash between Korean officials and Chinese fishermen

Posted on : 2012-05-01 11:33 KST Modified on : 2012-05-01 11:33 KST
Coast guard struggling to protect waters from aggressive Chinese vessels
 April 30. (photo provided by Mokpo Coast Guard)
April 30. (photo provided by Mokpo Coast Guard)

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent

Around 100 permit-holding Chinese fishing boats were working late Sunday night in the waters of South Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone 50 km north of Hong Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla. At about 1:20 am, one of them slipped off the west. The Mugunghwa 2, a 1,000-ton fishery inspection ship belonging to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries West Sea Fisheries Management Group, launched a seven-meter high-speed boat to give chase. On board were six public servants in charge of a crackdown on illegal fishing.

The vessel in question was believed to be for carrying a haul of fish that had been secretly collected in excess of the legal limit. The high-speed boat gave orders to halt, but the 227-ton fish transport boat Zhe Yu 581 continued to flee with nine crewmembers on board.

Five of the officials, including Kim Jeong-su, 44, finally succeeded in boarding the Chinese vessel at around 2:30 am, carrying gas pistols and batons. The storage hold and deck were filled to capacity with fish. Kim and other officials tried to enter the wheelhouse and cut the wires before attempting to enter the wheelhouse. Its left door was locked, while the right one was guarded by a German shepherd. After a scuffle lasting about ten minutes, they succeeded in entering the pilothouse by breaking a window. The Chinese crewmembers and sailors put up a fight, throwing burning charcoal and stones.

Two crewmembers on deck attacked official Hwa Jeong-u, 32, with a sickle and axe before he managed to escape by diving into the water. Kim, who had been part of the effort to enter the wheelhouse, was left unconscious by blows to the head and body from blunt instruments wielded by Chinese crewmembers. The officials from the high-speed boat radioed a request for assistance. The transport boat continued traveling toward China for about 20 to 30 minutes, with Kim still on board.

It was only after an additional high-speed boat arrived at around 3 am that the Fisheries Management Group succeeded in removing Kim and the others from the boat and transported him and Hwa to a hospital in Mokpo by helicopter.

In an announcement, the Mokpo Coast Guard said, “Coast Guard vessel 3009 was mobilized after an emergency request came in at 2:30 am, and captured the Chinese transport vessel in the waters 76 km northwest of Hong Island at approximately 4:50 am.”

The Coast Guard apprehended nine Chinese crewmembers on charges of obstructing special official operations with their armed attack on crackdown officers. The crewmembers are currently being questioned.

The West Sea Fisheries Management Group has stopped a total of four illegal catch transport vessels since Jan. 3, when the first such vessel, a 30-ton boat without a permit, was found clandestinely transporting ten thousand kilograms of fish and fined 70 million won (about US$62,000).

An official with the team said, “We’ve stopped about 100 drift-net boats fishing near Heuksan Island since February, and every time the storage room was empty, so we were watching closely.”

Illegal fishing by Chinese boats is becoming more sophisticated, and South Korean fishery inspection boats are struggling to keep up with the advancement. Last year, the government announced measures to increase the number of thousand-plus ton inspection boats after a Coast Guard officer died in a clash on a Chinese vessel that was fishing illegally in South Korean waters, but the pledge has turned out to be hollow.

“They were supposed to incrementally increase the personnel by 47 people through 2015, but even this year’s personnel reinforcement plan [for 17 new employees] wasn’t followed through,” a West Sea fishing management team official said.

“They also said they would bring the total of 1,000 ton-plus inspection boats up from two to four, but it’s looking they’re just going to add tonnage to the four small and worn-out inspection boats we have now,” the employee added.

 

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