hankyoreh

South Jeolla Province

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju Correspondent

Of the roughly ten thousand Chinese fishing boats crossing over to ply South Korean waters, around 1,700 carry permits. The remaining 8,000 or so are mostly outlaws that sling nets between two boats, sweeping up not only young fish but fishing gear as well. Whenever a South Korean Coast Guard patrol boat or fishery inspection boat shows up, dozens of these boats organize themselves into chain, linking up with cables and putting up an intense resistance. A government official said Monday that “the boats that even the Chinese government has given up on are putting their lives at risk to fish illegally.”

Early Monday morning, two Coast Guard officers were stabbed, one fatally, by the captain of a Chinese fishing boat they had stopped in the waters of the West Sea near Socheong Island in Incheon. This incident bears some connection with the kind of ferocious violence shown in the past from the illegal fishing boats from China. The crew members do not hesitate to brandish sickles, metal pipes, axes, and other weapons against the Coast Guard officers who try to apprehend them. This latest Coast Guard fatality comes three years after Mokpo Coast Guard lieutenant Park Gyeong-jo lost his life while stopping a boat near Gageo Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla, back in September 2008. Calls are growing for basic measures to be put in place.

Observers believe the basic reason the boats without permits are violating South Korean waters is because overfishing in Chinese waters has depleted resources there. Even after paying hefty charges when caught fishing illegally, they still reportedly come out ahead. In January, the charge for large vessels caught fishing illegally was raised from 70 million won to 100 million won, but this has not had any effect.

At the moment, many observers are calling for more stringent action to crack down on this pervasive problem. The Coast Guard has recently beefed up its manual for crackdowns and stepped up the level of its response by sending in special forces with Tasers, grenade launchers, and tear gas canisters.

There is no questioning that more large patrol boats and inspection boats are needed to avoid additional fatalities during the crackdown process. The number of Chinese boats seized by South Korean authorities while fishing illegally has ranged between 370 and 550 a year since 2005. In contrast, a mere 9 Coast Guard patrol boats are positioned in the West Sea, while three fishery inspection boats are positioned in the East Sea and two in the West Sea.

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