Seoul: South Korea's government announced Thursday a series of intensified measures aimed at curbing illegal fishing by Chinese vessels in the Yellow Sea, near the inter-Korean maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Coast Guard, alongside the ministries of foreign affairs, unification, defense, and fisheries, held a joint press briefing in Seoul to outline the government's comprehensive strategy. The plan includes four key actions: intensifying crackdowns on illegal Chinese fishing operations near the NLL, forcibly removing unauthorized fishing gear, bolstering on-site enforcement capabilities, and enhancing diplomatic cooperation.
The government intends to streamline information-sharing between military and police forces and amend relevant laws to punish acts such as anchoring at sea and the unauthorized supply of goods. The fisheries ministry will deploy vessels to remove illegal fishing equipment and install 34 additional artificial structures to deter fishing operations in the area.
A new special enforcement unit will be set up on Baengnyeong Island by the Korea Coast Guard, complementing existing units on Yeonpyeong and Daecheong islands. The foreign ministry plans to engage with the Chinese government to encourage compliance from Chinese fishermen and inform them of the newly increased penalties for illegal fishing, which have risen from 300 million won (US$217,500) to 1.5 billion won.
The unification ministry will continue efforts to establish long-term measures for securing peace and a stable maritime order in the Yellow Sea, potentially through the creation of a peace zone. With the autumn crab fishing season approaching, the government aims to strengthen interagency efforts against illegal foreign fishing activities near the NLL.
Despite the designation of waters south of the NLL as a special exclusion zone, illegal fishing by Chinese vessels remains a persistent issue. However, the number of such vessels has decreased from an average of 200 per day in 2016 to fewer than 100 currently, demonstrating some progress in enforcement efforts.