Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajosshi]

S Korea detains 23 Chinese fishermen in coast guard spat

TREACHEROUS WATERS:Coast guard officers said the fishermen attacked them as their boats were seized for illegal fishing, resulting in one death

South Korea�s coast guard yesterday said it was holding 23 Chinese fishermen in custody for questioning after a violent clash in the Yellow Sea that left one Chinese crew member dead.

The coast guard seized two 93-tonne vessels on Tuesday and towed them to the southwestern port of Mokpo after an operation against about 30 Chinese trawlers it said were fishing illegally in South Korean waters.

�A Chinese consul general interviewed the fishermen one by one after they arrived here this morning,� a coast guard spokesman said from Mokpo.

A 44-year-old fisherman was fatally wounded by a rubber bullet after coast guard commandos boarded one of the vessels and were confronted by crew members armed with knives, axes, saws and other weapons.

He was declared dead after being rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Mokpo.

Coast guard officers said they had fired five rubber bullets, one of which hit the chest of the man who was wielding a saw.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine if the rubber bullet killed him, Mokpo coast guard chief Kang Seong-hee told reporters.

�We never fire rubber bullets if they [the fishermen] comply with inspections,� he said.

The South Korean foreign ministry expressed regret over the death, while the Chinese embassy in Seoul asked officials to investigate it �seriously and thoroughly.�

Illegal fishing by Chinese boats is common in South Korean waters and more than 130 boats have been seized so far this year.

In December 2010, a Chinese boat overturned and sank in the Yellow Sea after ramming a South Korean coast guard vessel. Two Chinese crewmen were killed.

Last year in December, a coast guard officer was stabbed to death in a struggle with Chinese sailors.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/10/18/2003545462

[Who's Your Daddy?]

What's your point? SK has a right to defend their waters.

[Squire]

Sounds like they brought it on themselves, if we're accepting the SK coastguard point of view. I wonder if they would have confronted the Chinese authorities with knives and axes (again, assuming that's true)

[fosterman]

sounds like to me Korea provocated the dispute, came out guns blazing again as they do with the North Koreans and someone ends up dying. then to get the Korean people on their side, they will shout out, DAEHUNMINGUK
they are illegally fishing, or north Korean ships crossed the boarder area, we must protect the nation..

[orosee]

[orosee]

[young_clinton]

Knowing the chinese, I would side with the South Koreans.

[yodanole]

This appears to be a "submitted without comment" type posting of a news item about Korea in the Current Events Forum. So, what's your complaint?