[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, mentioned that "a zero-tolerance strong response is necessary" regarding Chinese fishing vessels illegally fishing in South Korea's territorial waters.
On the 23rd, Governor Lee stated on Facebook, "The act of illegally fishing by intruding into territorial waters threatens the safety and livelihood of our fishermen, and the strongest response permitted by law must be taken."
He added, "In Indonesia, a tough policy that sank hundreds of foreign fishing vessels engaged in illegal fishing reduced illegal fishing by more than 90%. Our government must seize foreign vessels that intrude into territorial waters, confiscate vessels confirmed to be illegally fishing, and respond with zero tolerance if the Coast Guard or military face armed resistance during enforcement."
He said, "The Chinese government's neglect of our territorial waters is a clear act of sovereignty violation, and the Chinese government's passive attitude is the cause of the increase in aggressive illegal fishing. Our government should publicly declare to China and other countries that it will respond with zero tolerance to illegal fishing, and strongly protest the attitude of neglecting the misconduct of their own fishing vessels to prevent such incidents from recurring."
Recently, Chinese fishing vessels engaged in illegal fishing near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea were repeatedly caught by the Coast Guard.
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