South Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC) on Friday resumed their joint operations to eject Chinese fishing boats that are operating illegally in neutral waters between the two Koreas, military officials said.
The military police team started its operation in the waters of the Han River's estuary and the Yellow Sea to drive away Chinese fishing vessels which are trespassing in the tense, closely monitored no man's land.
"Earlier in the day, the joint team resumed the crackdown as two Chinese fishing vessels sailed into the waters around the mouth of the Han River," said a military official. "One boat retreated from the area while another vessel fled northwards."
A week ago, South Korea and the UNC conducted their first joint crackdown on Chinese fishing boats illegally operating in the area. The region is a rich fishing ground that has been left largely untouched since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Friday's crackdown came three days after South Korea's military seized two such Chinese vessels.
A growing number of Chinese fishing boats have trespassed into the military buffer zone as the peak season for blue crabs has arrived.
Chinese fishing boats often cross into South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea during peak crab season in search of bigger hauls, regularly leading to crackdowns by the South Korean Coast Guard.
Chinese fishermen are presumed to have bought the right to operate in the waters on the North Korean side of the border, but they often intrude into the South Korean side. (Yonhap)