Prime Minister Chung Hong-won vowed Thursday to conduct a stronger crackdown on Chinese fishermen’s illegal fishing in South Korean waters amid their growing violence against South Korean authorities.

Hundreds of Chinese fishermen are arrested each year for illegally crossing into and fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea, often leading to violent clashes with South Korean Coast Guard officials.

In early October, a Chinese captain was shot dead while trying to escape a crackdown after illegally entering South Korea’s exclusive waters in the latest in a series of similar incidents, which sometimes cause diplomatic tensions between the two nations to flare up.

“Illegal fishing committed collectively by Chinese fishing boats is hurting our fishermen’s haul and damaging their fishing gear, as well as posing threats to the lives of our Coast Guard agents,” the prime minister said in a national policy coordination meeting.

To better fight illegal fishing by Chinese fishermen, the government will take a range of new measures, including the introduction of much beefed-up crackdown forces and a revision of the South Korea-China agreement on fishery cooperation, according to the result of the meeting.

Seoul plans to coordinate a special team involving naval vessels, helicopters and special forces to better deal with violent Chinese fishermen. It is also pushing to upgrade its old crackdown fleet and introduce airplanes as part of the boosted crackdown efforts, according to the government.

The revision of the Seoul-Beijing agreement, if amended, would newly allow South Korea to round up unregistered Chinese fishing boats in order to confiscate and demolish them, the government also said.

As part of diplomatic efforts, Seoul will also seek to establish a consultative channel involving related ministers from the two countries in order to increase bilateral relations in the fields of fishing policies, ocean resources and crackdown operations, it also noted.

“(Seoul) will make utmost diplomatic efforts so (the existing) agreements between the countries, including those on joint patrols and crackdown operations, can faithfully be implemented,” the prime minister said at the meeting. (Yonhap)