Seaman who died wielded saw against Korean maritime police


Relations between South Korea and China are taking a turn for the worst following the death of a Chinese fisherman during a raid by the South Korean Coast Guard in the West Sea on Tuesday.

The Chinese government expressed “serious concern” over the incident on Wednesday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded a thorough investigation and “concrete measures to prevent violent law enforcement and similar incidents from happening again,” its spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul lodged a complaint against Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the violent handling of the situation, and urged it to enforce the law in a civilized manner.

On Tuesday, a Chinese fisherman died after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by a Korean Coast Guard officer, while both were trying to fend off each other, according to the Korean Coast Guard.

The Korean Foreign Ministry said it waits for the Coast Guard to conclude its investigation.

Seoul officials pointed out that the incident occurred while the Coast Guard was cracking down on their illegal fishing in Korea’s Exclusive Zone.

The Chinese sailors fought Korea’s law enforcement with deadly weapons and a video footage showed the fisherman wielding a saw before he was shot, the maritime police said.

A government source said that this case should not further overshadow the diplomatic relations between the two sides, which face other contentious issues on history and territory that are already putting their 20-year relationship into a test.

Over 4,600 Chinese boats had been seized by the Korean Coast Guard for intruding upon Korea’s exclusive economic zone since 2001, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Some 300 Chinese boats had been caught illegally fishing in Korean waters this year. The number is expected to reach around 600 before this year’s fishing season comes to an end.

Korean Coast Guard officers were also killed in 2008 and 2011 confronting Chinese boats.

Experts said Korea needs to strengthen its security measures in its territorial waters as the increase in China’s illegal fishing poses a serious threat to Korea’s marine resources.

This is likely to increase the tension between the two sides, which have also been at odds over leodo, a submerged rock south of Jeju Island.

Also, the two sides are facing an issue over Liu Qiang, who is accused of and serving time in prison for throwing Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

Beijing has demanded that Seoul send him back to China once he is released from prison, instead of extraditing him to Japan where he is accused of trying to burn the Yasukuni Shrine, a temple for Japanese war criminals.

Observers said that China may not likely let the latest incident in the West Sea blow over as a means to lessen its burden on a series of territorial conflicts it faces with Korea and Japan.

Relations between China and Japan have also taken a blow as the two sides have been clashing over a disputed island in the East China Sea called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)