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| A joint force, comprised of Korean military and maritime police as well as United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, conducts an operation to crack down on illegal fishing by Chinese fishing boats in neutral waters around the estuary of the Han River, Friday. / Courtesy of Joint Chiefs of Staff |
Navy, Marines mobilization may cause conflict with NK
By Jun Ji-hye
The South Korean military began operations, Friday, in cooperation with the United Nations Command (UNC) to crack down on illegal fishing by Chinese fishing boats in neutral waters around the estuary of the Han River between the two Koreas.
Though the operation targets Chinese boats, it may cause resistance from North Korea, given that military tensions in the area, which is near the inter-Korean Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, have remained high since the armistice agreement ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.
To carry out the operation, the ROK military and the UNC recently formed a 24-member military police team with four rigid-inflatable boats (RIBs) to combat an increasing number of Chinese boats in the crab-rich military buffer zone, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
"The first crackdown operation took place in the estuary at 10 a.m. and was finished at 3:40 p.m. at ebb tide," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "Some 10 Chinese boats were conducting illegal fishing when the operation was launched. Following our broadcast warning messages, the boats escaped to the northern side."
The official said the military will dispatch the military police again at high tide today.
It marks the first time that South Korea and the U.S.-led UNC have taken joint action to drive foreign vessels out of the estuary where the Han River meets the West Sea, since the demilitarized state of the area was acknowledged in the armistice agreement.
The operation comes amid concerns about the growing influx of Chinese fishing boats in the area, which has depleted resources in South Korean waters and caused serious consequences to local fishermen.
Illegal fishing by the Chinese in this sensitive area has also raised concerns over the possibility of accidental clashes between the two Koreas, given that the two sides have confronted each other across the waters for decades.
The Han River Estuary has been controlled by the UNC Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) in accordance with the armistice agreement.
"UNC Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks has authorized the operation to enforce restrictions on fishermen in the Han River Estuary," the UNC said in a statement.
The joint team is comprised of the South Korean Navy, the Marine Corps and coast guard officers as well as UNCMAC representatives and translators. Their boats carry UNC flags in accordance with the armistice agreement.
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No Korean or foreign ships are allowed to sail in the area except those that are officially registered with the military armistice commissions of either South or North Korea, according to the armistice agreement's annex governing civil shipping in neutral waters.
The subsidiary agreement allows each side to provide not more than four patrol boats and not more than 24 police officers armed with pistols and rifles in the area "in order to maintain order and enforce the provisions of the rules" for civil shipping.
After its recent inspection, the UNCMAC concluded that Chinese fishing boats have been encroaching on the area, as they were not registered with the military armistice commission of the North or displaying national flags as required by the armistice agreement.
The UNCMAC on Wednesday notified the North of its plan so as to prevent accidental clashes, the ministry said, adding that South Korea also informed China of the operation and the possibility that there could be security problems during the action.
"Seoul has continuously asked Beijing through diplomatic channels to address the growing issue involving the Chinese boats, but the illegal fishing has not stopped," the official said. "The government has come to realize its diplomatic measures have reached their limits, so it decided to deploy the military police in cooperation with the UNC."
Another official added, "We will continue the operation until all Chinese fishing boats withdraw. Toward that end, we will step up the intensity of our actions."
When approving the operation, Gen. Brook said, "UNC takes its responsibility seriously to maintain the armistice. We have the responsibility to act and we are doing that."
According to the ministry, illegal Chinese fishing has soared in the area since last year, becoming a growing diplomatic problem between Seoul and Beijing over the past few years. Until 2014, only two to three cases were reported a year, but the number jumped to 120 in 2015, and up to 520 as of May this year.
One South Korean coast guard officer was killed by Chinese fishermen in a similar crackdown operation in 2011. Earlier in the month, two Chinese fishing boats were caught by angry South Korean fishermen while illegally fishing near the NLL.
Seoul and Beijing have held regular talks involving their foreign ministries, maritime law enforcement and fishery authorities to tackle the issue, but to no avail.
In their last meeting in November, South Korea demanded practical measures to curb illegal fishing.
Their next meeting is scheduled to take place in Seoul at the end of this month or early next month, where the government plans to further press China to deal with the problem.
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