15% of fines on illegal Chinese fishing boats unpaid

Almost 15 percent of fines levied on Chinese fishing boats caught for illegal practices in the Korean waters have not been paid over the past five years, data showed Thursday.

According to the foreign ministry data submitted to the National Assembly, 7.24 billion won ($6.5 million), or 14.7 percent, of the fines levied on illegal Chinese fishing ships from 2008 to August of this year was not paid.

During the cited period, a total of 2,016 ships were caught committing such illegal practices as violating Korea's territorial waters and breaking relevant rules on fishing, and fined a total of 49.05 billion won, the data showed.

In 2008, 432 Chinese ships were caught, with 370 such cases in 2010, 537 cases last year, and 296 up to August of this year.

In the wake of growing violence by some Chinese fishermen against South Korean Coast Guard officers, the Seoul government has introduced tougher measures. Those include providing all Coast Guard commandos raiding illegal boats with firearms, doubling the maximum bail for captured ships to 200 million won and forfeiture of the violators' catch and fishing gear or charging a corresponding amount in fines, according to the government.

Last December, a South Korean Coast Guard officer was stabbed to death by a Chinese fishing boat captain and another officer was seriously wounded when their squad clashed with Chinese sailors while attempting to seize a vessel illegally fishing in Korea's exclusive economic zone in the Yellow Sea. (Yonhap)