NK-China fishing deal needs UN inspection

Chinese fishermen are moved for questioning after being detained by South Korean maritime police for illegally fishing in waters off Ganghwa-do, Incheon, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats have been working in North Korea’s territorial waters under a deal between the two countries ― presumably signed before 2000, according to North Korean defectors, Friday.

A defector who claimed he participated in a crackdown on illegal Chinese boats when he was in North Korea testified that the fishing deal has been a major source of income for the North Korean regime.

If these claims are true, North Korea may have diverted the money from the deal to develop its nuclear weapons and missiles ― an issue that deserves investigation by the United Nations.

The defector’s claims also explain why North Korea has remained silent over an operation by the South Korean military to expel illegal Chinese boats from neutral waters in the estuary of the Han River near the inter-Korean border. Chinese boats have stayed in North Korean waters after retreating from the area, but the North has not taken any action against them.

“The North appears to have already sold its fishing rights near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border to China before 2000,” the defector, now living in Seoul, told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said the North Korean authorities have permitted Chinese companies to fish near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea. In return, the Chinese paid fees or gave the North up to 60 percent of their catch.

"North Korea has been charging fees for the use of its waters to earn money even before 2000," the defector said.

"The country has allowed the Chinese to fish in its territorial waters in place of North Korean fishermen, whose boats are too old and who do not have enough fuel to run them. Sharing 50 percent of the catch with the Chinese was considered an ideal deal, although the fees varied depending on companies, say, anywhere from 36 percent, 40 percent and even 60 percent."

Claiming that he was a member of Pyongyang’s powerful State Security Department, the defector also said he participated in a crackdown 16 years ago on Chinese trawlers that illegally fished in the West Sea.

The Kim Jong-un regime has been suspected of having sold its fishing rights to China because the North Korean coastguard did not repel Chinese fishing boats that recently trespassed into both North Korean and neutral waters near the U.N.-designated NLL.

On Monday, the Ministry of Defense said it is uncertain why North Korea remained silent after some 20 Chinese fishing boats crossed its waters last week and continued fishing in the neutral waters around the Han River estuary.

Ten of the boats remained in the North Korea-controlled waters for over a day after being chased away by the South Korean military and the U.N. Command.

The defector said that Chinese boats that did not register with the North’s State Security Department were subject to a crackdown. In 2005, North Korea notified South Korea of “a crackdown against fishing boats from a third country” near the NLL, and in 2008, North Korean patrol boats sank a Chinese trawler near the border.

“A number of Chinese fishing companies found it burdensome to pay a certain amount of their profits to North Korea, and their ships have been secretly fishing in the North Korean sea,” the defector said.

“Pyongyang confiscated those ships and returned them only when their owners paid a penalty, such as $80,000 for a ship worth $100,000.”

He said officials at the State Security Department, which directly reports to Kim Jong-un, turned in the penalties collected to the regime to show their loyalty.

“The regime collected money without doing much because dozens of ships were confiscated in just one day,” the defector said.

Analysts said the defector’s testimony is “credible enough.”

“I’ve been told that sale of fishing rights took place even before the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) imposed a series of sanctions on North Korea,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. The UNSC has slapped four sanctions on Pyongyang since 2006.

“Also, blue crab fishing season happens twice a year ― April to June and September to December. You can’t catch blue crabs outside the season, and because North Korean fishermen cannot afford to sail every day during the season, the regime works with the Chinese to earn money.”

The Chinese fishing boats have crossed into South Korean waters as well and poached the prized blue crab.

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University, said: “The testimony resembles the story my sources told me that Pyongyang has been receiving ‘bribes’ from Chinese fishing companies in return for allowing them to fish.”

The experts said the “joint fishing” between North Korea and China is not considered a violation of the UNSC sanctions against Pyongyang, but it deserves an investigation by the U.N.

“North Korea has sovereignty over its seas, and I don’t think the U.N. can prohibit its use of its territory,” Park said. “Moreover, we do not yet have hard evidence that Pyongyang is selling fishing rights at the government level.”

Yang cited UNSC Resolution 2270, which was imposed in March and excludes trade concerning livelihood goods between North Korea and the outside world.