[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's coastguard fired a volley of machine gun shots Saturday to chase away dozens of Chinese boats fishing illegally near a frontline island in the Yellow Sea.
Coastguard authorities said 95 shots were fired from an M60 machine gun during an operation to stop illegal fishing by 30 Chinese boats southwest of Socheong Island near the sea boundary between the two Koreas. No casualties were reported.
It's the second use of heavy weapons by South Korea's coastguard to stop illegal Chinese fishing, the source of diplomatic disputes between Seoul and Beijing. On November 1, coastguard officers fired more than 600 machine gun shots into the air and sea to scare away Chinese boats.
Coastguard operations have become risky as Chinese fishermen often used steel pipes, knives and other weapons, triggering violent clashes that have caused casualties on both sides.
South Korea's coastguard has been allowed to use firearms more aggressively than before under new guidelines published this month.
Despite Beijing's strong complaints, South Korea insisted the use of firearms is inevitable to thwart a dangerous challenge by Chinese boats trying to ram coastguard vessels.
For years, South Korea has captured and fined thousands of Chinese boats for illegal fishing.
China has urged its fishermen to stop illegal fishing in waters of neighboring countries, but they continue to poach as fish stocks at home were depleted. Illegal fishing has also caused diplomatic and security concerns along the Yellow Sea border between the two Koreas.
Three Chinese fishermen were killed in late September when a fire broke out during a raid by coastguard commandoes using stun grenades. South Korea has threatened to use heavy weapons since October 7 when a coastguard boat was rear ended and sank.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
