The North Korean regime is alleged to have sold fishing rights in its eastern waters to China, in addition to rights in the Yellow Sea that have already been sold.
According to an unnamed intelligence source, the North Korean regime is desperate for cash and has revenues in the region of 82 billion Won ($75 million) from the fishing rights it sells to China, with the proceeds channelled directly to the country’s leadership.
Yonhap News Agency reports that the Yellow Sea fishing rights sale was well known already, with a North Korea-China deal in place since 2004 for areas well to the north of the Northern Limit Line. But this appears to have since been expanded to include fishing grounds above the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea, with 900 to 1000 Chinese vessels seen fishing near the northern side of the line, with a total of around 2500 Chinese fishing vessels operating in North Korean East Sea and Yellow Sea waters.
According to the source quoted by Yonhap, the number of vessels and the North Korean regime’s revenue from sales of fishing rights appear to be considerably higher than had previously been estimated and the indications are that there has been a significant increase in this activity.
