Chinese fishing boats withdraw from mouth of Han River

All Chinese fishing boats, which had run away from neutral waters into North Korean coast, completely pulled out on Monday, after a joint military operation by troops from the South Korean military, the maritime police, and the United Nations Command started in the waters in the mouth of the Han River, which was the first since the signing of armistice treaty in 1953. The outcome came 10 days after they started the operation.

According to the South Korean military authority, some 10 Chinese fishing boats that had been staying put in North Korean waters, pulled out through the north of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, before disappearing from neutral waters. The fishing boats, which flocked to North Korean coast within the neutral waters to dodge the military police on Friday morning, stayed there while checking the military police’s movement for the fourth day.

“We judge that they were forced to withdraw because they ran out of foods and fuel in inventory within the boats,” a South Korean military source said. “It looks like they pulled out during high tide.”

The military police resumed operation to kick out the fishing boats from noon on Monday, which was soon after the boats withdrew. “We displayed maneuvering of protest to fundamentally block the Chinese fishing boats from attempting to reenter,” a military source said. “In order to send a clear signal that ‘military police are in operation to crack down on them,’ we will mobilize forces and stage operation constantly irrespective of emergence of Chinese fishing boats for the time being.”

손효주기자 hjson@donga.com