S. Korean, Japanese Patrol Boats Stand Off Near Ulsan

Korea Times | June 1 2005

South Korean and Japanese maritime patrol boats were locked in an hours-long confrontation off the coast of the southeastern port city of Ulsan Wednesday over a South Korean fishing boat that Japanese police claim had crossed into Japanese waters.

According to the Maritime Police in Ulsan, four patrol ships of South Korea's Coast Guard and three Japanese aritime police ships continued their virtual confrontation from the early morning 16 nautical miles or 29 km from the port of Ulsan, Coast Guard officials said.

The Japanese patrol boats sought to tow away a South Korean fishing boat as Japan claimed that the boat was fishing in the EEZ under its jurisdiction. But the South Korean Maritime Police also attempted to take away the boat to the port off Ulsan.

The 77-ton boat, named ``Shinpung-ho'' was allegedly spotted inside the EEZ under the Japanese jurisdiction early Wednesday morning. But the boat fled to the Korean side EEZ with two Japanese maritime policemen who boarded the ship to arrest them.

As the boat moved into the Korean’s EEZ, the maritime patrol boats of the two countries vied for claiming their jurisdictional rights over the boat.

The police said the Japanese police entered South Korea's EEZ at midnight in pursuit of the 77-ton Korean ship ``Sinpung-ho.'' It said the Koreans were catching eels 3 miles into Japan's EEZ.

It also said that a struggle ensued as the Japanese police sought to arrest the South Korean fishermen. Two Japanese police officers fell into the water before they were rescued during the scuffle, and a South Korean fisherman suffered a head injury inflicted by the Japanese police.

The 39-year-old fisherman, named Hwang, was rushed to a hospital after he suffered an injury during a scuffle with two Japanese policemen who smashed windows of the pilothouse of the boat to arrest him.

At the time of the clash, 10 South Korean fishermen were on the boat.

The South Korean police said it could not punish the fishermen unless there is concrete evidence that they illegally fished inside the Japanese EEZ.

It also protested the Japanese policemen's damage of the pilot house of the ship and violence they inflicted on the fisherman.

The police would make a thorough investigation into the case and take legal action, if necessary. But the Japanese patrol boats insisted that they wanted to take away the boat for its alleged illegal fishing. The fishing boat is now at the port of Ulsan and the fishermen were interrogated.