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December 14, 2011

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China 'regrets' fishing incident

CHINA will actively cooperate with South Korea and properly handle a clash between Chinese fishermen and Korean coast guards as soon as possible, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said during a regular press briefing that China regrets the "unfortunate incident" which caused the death of a South Korean coast guard.

Asked whether China would compensate the dead officer's family, Liu said China is working with South Korea "to investigate and verify the situation." He said China was ready "to settle relevant issues."

Crew members on a Chinese fishing boat reportedly came into conflict with two South Korean coast guards in the Yellow Sea on Monday. South Korean officials said the Chinese captain of the boat suspected of illegally fishing in South Korean waters killed one coast guard officer and wounded another.

In Seoul, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed yesterday to spend more on policing the country's waters.

Lee told a Cabinet meeting that South Korea will get tough on illegal Chinese fishermen, according to the presidential Blue House office.

Lee's possible visit to China next month may also be reconsidered if the case is not smoothly resolved, a Blue House official said.

South Korean police say they've asked for a warrant to extend the detention of the Chinese captain.

Officers from two coast guard ships boarded the fishing boat over suspicions that it was illegally operating in Yellow Sea waters rich in blue crabs, anchovies and croaker, when the captain attacked with an unidentified weapon, coast guard spokesman Kim Dong-jin said.

Ahn Sung-sik, a South Korean coast guard investigator, told reporters in Seoul yesterday that the captain had denied using violence.



 

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