South Korea’s clampdown on Chinese boats illegally fishing in neutral waters is seen as a move to protect local fishermen and quell increasingly sour public sentiment, but the diplomatic predicament faced by Seoul remains unchanged, if not more intense.

Besides its impact on security and maritime affairs, diplomats also perceive the inevitable impact on diplomacy of the ongoing, unprecedented operation involving military and police officers and U.N. Command monitors.

The vessels’ rampant poaching at the mouth of the Hangang River constitutes a security breach, dries up fisheries and thus affects the livelihoods of nearby fishing villages.

Seoul officials have lodged complaints and called for tougher measures to keep the ships at bay. The Chinese government has also been striving to curb the practice through its own crackdowns and education.

However, there is no permanent solution implemented yet, which means the issue will return every blue crab season.

“To tackle the problem once and for all, the fishermen will need to have other means of livelihood. But there’s a limit to what the government can do when it comes to the bread-and-butter issues of the people,” a senior official at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

“There are more than 20 million fishing families in the country and the fishing grounds are going empty. That’s probably why the vessels have come all the way down to the estuary, and on our part, we had to chase them away.”

The joint operation by the South Korean military and the U.N. command follows the 1953 armistice agreement, which stipulates that either side has the right to deploy no more than 24 people and four speed boats to patrol neutral waters around the Han River estuary. But this has never been implemented due to fears of potential conflict between the Koreas.

The Ministry of Public Safety and Security-affiliated Coast Guard announced last week that it has launched a task flotilla -- consisting of four 1,000-ton vessels, eight speed boats and a helicopter -- to clamp down on illegal fishing in the West Sea.

The operations were launched after fishermen from a South Korean border island, vexed by Chinese boats repeatedly defying official warnings, impounded two Chinese trawlers and handed them over to authorities early this month.

The seizure represents the frustration and ill feelings harbored by the Korean fishermen. But it could have also caused a diplomatic spat because it was virtually an “illicit abduction,” the official said, noting that it took place in waters near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime frontier with North Korea, where South Korean ships cannot fish or cruise.

The Coast Guard is looking into whether the South Koreans violated related laws.

“Illegal fishing is something we have had to deal with every year for a long time, but the magnitude of public responses has fluctuated each time, as well as how much news coverage it got,” said a former diplomat with experience on the subject.

“In the past couple of years, for example, the issue did not create huge controversy, though our officers and Chinese boats played hide and seek as before.

“Perhaps it would not be much of a problem if the two nations’ relations are solid and upbeat, but in light of its public impact, it may quickly stoke tension especially when they are at odds over other pressing issues already.”

Chinese fishing boats are presumed to have bought fishing rights from North Korea, and have operated in Pyongyang’s side of the maritime border.

But a military official said the North has also been seen to clamp down on Chinese illegal fishing, adding that three more North Korean boats appear to have been deployed to step up patrol of the area.

There are currently an estimated 200 North Korean fishing boats in the area, which is about 1.7 times the number in 2015.

South Korea is also unlikely to press China too hard, given the need for its neighbor’s support in thwarting North Korea’s nuclear program and shifting its course. The sides have recently sparred over the Seoul-Washington plan to deploy advanced U.S. missile defense assets here.

No clear signs of any diplomatic discord have been detected for now, even after South Korean authorities towed away an additional two Chinese boats.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has pledged to reinforce public guidance and cooperation with Seoul, while expressing hopes for a “civilized” implementation of law and protection of the rights of the captured sailors. 

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the claim that it has been refraining from taking a tougher stance on worries that it may draw the ire of Beijing.

“As the illegal fishing issue has constantly surfaced even after signing a fisheries agreement in 2001, we’ve been strongly urging China’s thorough prior guidance and crackdown steps via various channels including on the summit and ministerial levels,” spokesperson Cho June-hyuck told reporters on Thursday.

“Illegal fishing is a substantially complex issue and cannot be resolved in a short time so we will have to make diplomatic efforts together with China.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com) 
     Yoon Min-sik    (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)