South Korea’s strategy of placing steel constructions to act as artificial reefs in the Northern Limit Line zone between North and South Korean waters has been criticised by North Korea government in a statement by its government-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The dispute arose earlier this year when Chinese fishing trawlers encroached on South Korean fishing grounds around the sensitive border region between the two states. Measures by the South Korean armed forces to keep the Chinese poachers out were carried out under United Nations authority, while the Seoul government requested that the Chinese authorities take real measures to control its own fishing fleet and to reach a solution to the dispute.
Earlier this year when the dispute was at its peak, South Korean fishermen saw their catches of blue crab fall by 70%.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean military intends to impound and scrap encroaching fishing vessels and plans to raise the bond required for arrested vessels to be released, while also preparing to establish a series of artificial reefs to impede the activities of illegal trawlers.
North Korea has responded with an accusation that the installation of eight artificial reefs in eastern waters off Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo and Socheongdo are part of Seoul’s programme of provocation against the Pyongyang government.
‘The fish-breeding reef, structure weighing dozens of tons, is being set up in the sensitive waters which witnessed three skirmishes in the past, a fact clearly showing the provocative nature,’ KCNA stated
According to the North Korean announcement, this is part of a ‘sinister plan’ on the Seoul government’s part to trigger a conflict in the sensitive disputed zone.
