South Korea will deploy four more patrol ships in the Yellow Sea to further strengthen its crackdown on illegal fishing by Chinese boats, the oceans ministry said Thursday.
The move will raise to 15 the number of South Korean patrol ships in the Yellow Sea, the scene of a series of violent naval clashes between Chinese boats and South Korean Coast Guard vessels, said the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
The ministry also said it will deploy about 80 additional Coast Guard officers and others in combating Chinese boats illegally fishing in the South Korean waters.
Illegal fishing by Chinese boats off the west coast has been a long-running headache for South Korea. Chinese fishermen have often used violence to resist crackdowns, leading to clashes resulting in injuries and sometimes death.
South Korea and China began to share information on fishing boats in the waters to the west of the Korean Peninsula earlier this month to facilitate monitoring, the ministry said.
Last month, South Korean Coast Guard officials fired around 200 gunshots to chase off 44 Chinese boats illegally fishing in South Korean waters.
As Chinese trawlers have been occasionally spotted fishing near the high-tension western sea border with North Korea, South Korea has placed about 800 artificial reefs south of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea since 2013.
Artificial reefs are manmade underwater structures that mimic some of the characteristics of natural reefs to protect marine resources. They are also effective at preventing illegal trawling.
Yonhap News Agency