Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Eviction of Chinese fishing boats near the Han River estuary

Speed boats dispatched near Seogeomdo and Boleumdo islands

10 Chinese fishing boats retreat to North Korean coast

Illegal fishing gone too far; diplomatic efforts reaching their limits

Prepare for emergency conditions with prior notification to North Korea and China

“You are now fishing in an area that is restricted by the military armistice commission. Leave the Han river estuary immediately, or be fully responsible for the consequences!”

Our army organized civilian-ruled police worked jointly with maritime police and the UN Command on June 10 to develop an eviction operation to deal with Chinese fishing boats fishing illegally on the Han river estuary.

On the first day of the operation, there were around 10 Chinese fishing boats, fishing illegally, despite the thick sea fog over the waters near Seogeomdo and Boleumdo islands. At 10:00 a.m., speed boats with the civilian-ruled police on board were deployed as the operation began, and when the police began their warning broadcasts in Chinese, Korean and English, the Chinese fishing boats gave up their fishing and retreated toward the coast of North Korea. The operation was carried out with 2-4 speed boats and ended at 15:40 p.m. when low tide was starting. As the mouth of the Han river is shallow, allowing fishing to take place only at high tide, further eviction operations will be held at high tide.

Our army also induced another evacuation by Chinese fishing boats by dispatching the civilian-ruled police on June 11 in the morning and afternoon.

A spokesperson for the joint chiefs of staff said, “Since the civilian-ruled police joined the operation on June 10, most of Chinese fishing boats have been staying off the coast of North Korea; some of them have left for the West Sea. The operation was successful, and taking all the circumstances of our amy into consideration, we’ll continue to develop future operations to induce them to leave.”

Meanwhile, our government has made significant efforts to achieve an effective crackdown and control in order to prevent illegal fishing from exhausting fishery resources and devastating fishing grounds around the mouth of the Han river, as well as accidental military collisions between the South and North. Illegal incursions by Chinese fishing boats have been increasing sharply, from approximately 120 times in 2015 to already 520 times as of May, 2016.

On this issue, our government has continually demanded corrective measures from the Chinese government through diplomatic steps using various channels, including the Chinese embassy in Korea and the Embassy of Korea in China. Recognizing the limitations of a wide range of diplomatic steps, the government talked over this issue with the Military Armistice Commission (MAC), the UN Command (UNC), which is in charge of the management and control of the Han river estuary, and decided to develop the eviction operation by deploying the civilian-ruled police. In addition, Commander in Chief of the Combined Forces Command Vincent Brooks also approved this UN operation in the name of the UN forces commander on June 9. He said, “The UNC is seriously taking the responsibility of ensuring the ceasefire agreement, and this operation is based on that.”

The UN MAC recently conducted special investigation activities for a month, and characterized those Chinese fishing boats as ‘trespassing boats’ which are in obvious violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Operation of the civilian-ruled police over the waters at the mouth of Han river was arranged with the cooperation of the UN MAC for normal implementation of the ceasefire agreement. The police have been integrated and organized with the military and police personnel and the UN MAC agents, and under the ceasefire agreement, can hoist the UN flag.

Considering that the waters of the mouth of Han river have not been entered by South or North over the last several decades, the UN MAC communicated with North Korea by telephone on June 8 in order to avoid accidental military collisions, and notified China of the relevant issues. Our joint chiefs of staff report that they are well-prepared for any emergency situations that might occur between South and North Korea.
 

By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >
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