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GWANJU, South Korea, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A Chinese fisherman was shot and killed by South Korea's Coast Guard after resisting arrest. The man was aboard a boat in the Yellow Sea, within South Korean's economic zone, with other sailors who attacked the military personnel with knives and broken beer bottles as they boarded the boat, the Coast Guard said.
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The dead fisherman, 45, was identified only by the surname Song, and died in a Mokpo, South Korea, hospital.
South Korean officials notified their Chinese counterparts and offered condolences to the victim's family, but Chinese Foreign Secretary spokesman Hong Lei expressed his government's outrage and added that a formal protest was lodged.
Chinese fishing boats have traveled further into South Korean waters, where fish are plentiful, in recent years. Over 180 Chinese fishing boats were detained by South Korean authorities, then typically released after payment of a fine, in 2013. In 2014 a South Korean Coast Guard member was stabbed to death after a boat was stopped for illegal fishing; the assailant received a 30-year jail term."We demand that South Korea immediately carry out an earnest and thorough investigation and severely punish the person responsible, and report to China in a timely manner the result of the probe."
South Korea's largest trading partner is China, and while the incident may aggravate relations, it is unlikely it will stop their plans for stronger economic ties.
