해경, 중국어선 '살인미수 혐의' 적용 검토
Seoul officials lodged a formal complaint with Beijing today... accusing Chinese fishing boats of ramming and sinking a South Korean coast guard vessel last week.
Chinese illegal fishing boats in South Korean waters have been a thorn in bilateral relations between the two countries for some time... and now the South Korean government is even mulling charging the assailants this time with attempted murder.
Our Lee Minyoung has this report.
The Korean Coast Guard says it's looking at charging the operators of a Chinese fishing boat with attempted murder, after they attacked members of the coast guard on the open seas.
The Chinese fishermen are still at large, but they're wanted for intentionally crashing their 100-ton vessel into a comparatively tiny Coast Guard speed boat last Friday in the West Sea... as officers attempted to stop them for fishing illegally.
One coast guard officer dove into the water before the speedboat sunk and was soon rescued unhurt,... but he could've been killed if he wasn't so quick.
"When they attacked us with their 10-meter boat, I thought that means they probably wouldn't care if they killed someone. Or they might have even wanted to kill."
The South Korean government has made a formal request to the Chinese government to search for the attackers and their vessel.
The number of Chinese boats illegally fishing within South Korea's exclusive economic zone has risen in recent years.
More than 200 boats a day appeared in the West Sea in June.
After a lull of a couple months, they sprang back into action in September for blue crab season, with an average of 100 boats spotted a day.
"Chinese boats always have been around, and they continue to fish illegally in our waters. But what worries me is how all of a sudden there are so many of them."
The Korean Coast Guard vowed last month to dispatch more boats to guard the area around the Han River estuary, near the border between South and North Korea... in a bid to rein in the poachers.
But some have called for even tighter controls. Other countries including Indonesia, Argentina and Russia are rooting out illegal fishing by sinking the trespassers.
The Korean Coast Guard responded to those calls on Sunday, saying they'll consider using weapons.
Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.
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