SEOUL
A Chinese ship captain was killed Friday when South Korea’s coast guard stopped his vessel for suspected illegal fishing activities in the Yellow Sea.
The 45-year-old captain of a 80-ton fishing boat was shot by a coast guard officer in waters off North Jeolla province and died after being transported to a hospital in the southwestern port city of Mokpo, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
"The cause of Song's death is presumed to be the penetrating injuries sustained from a bullet," Yonhap quoted Jeong Jong-hyun, an emergency doctor at Mokpo Hangook Hospital, as saying.
"The piece of bullet about 1.6 centimeters was found inside Song's body," Jeong added.
The Chinese vessel was stopped at about 08.30 local time around 144 kilometers (over 89 miles) west of Wangdeung Island in Buan County. The captain lost his life at around 11.20.
According to South Korean officials, two patrol ships were sent as part of a crackdown on illegal fishing, during which guns were used as fishermen on board the Chinese vessel reportedly fought with coast guard officials.
"The skipper was shot dead in the process of [the] crackdown. Details on the incident will be announced in the near future but not today," a coast guard official told Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Seoul's foreign ministry has expressed regret over the death, telling its Chinese counterpart that an investigation into the incident is underway, Yonhap cited a ministry official as saying.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing during a press briefing that the government had lodged a protest with South Korea.
According to South Korea’s Coast Guard, 183 Chinese fishermen were arrested for illegal fishing in the Yellow Sea in 2013.
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