hankyoreh

The Baengnyeong Island Fishermen’s Association held a ceremony on Apr. 6 at Jangchon Port where members hoisted the Unification Flag onto their fishing boats. The flags feature the Korean Peninsula and the words, “Expanding the fishery of the five West Sea Islands.”

The five West Sea islands are directly south of the Northern Limit Line, the disputed maritime boundary between South and North Korea, and have featured a number of military clashes in recent decades including the Cheonan sinking and the North Korean shelling of Yeongpyeong Island. The fisherman hope flying the flag will play a role in turning the area into a peace zone. “The scars of division remain intact for the fishermen of the five islands, and so this ceremony was deeply moving for us,” said association president Jang Tae-hyun. “The desire of the fishermen is that the expansion of the fishery will occur rapidly.” (by Lee Jung-ah, staff reporter)