Chinese fishermen face arrest over Korean officer's death

MOKPO, South Korea, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The Coast Guard said Sunday that it will seek arrest warrants for the entire crew of a Chinese ship following the death of a Korean inspection officer, who was assaulted by some of the fishermen before drowning.

Trying to board the boat that was illegally fishing in Korean southern waters on
Thursday, Park Kyong-jo, 48, a police inspector of the Mokpo Coast Guard, fell
into the water from the boat rail after three of the Chinese fishermen attacked
him, and one struck him in the head with a shovel, according to video footage.
The Coast Guard planned to seek arrest warrants for the entire crew later Sunday.
When the three men who committed the assault against the officer are identified,
they will be charged with homicide, officers said.
"Image quality improvement work is underway on the footage. On Sunday afternoon
-- by which time the questioning of the crew members is expected to be over -- we
are going to file for arrest warrants for all of them," an officer at Mokpo Coast
Guard said.
The Chinese were initially uncooperative and denied using violence, but some of
them have turned around and admitted to the allegations, officers said.
The suspects' names, including that of the captain from China's eastern Liaoning
Province, were withheld because the investigation is underway.
Officers said Park was found with the coil that connected his belt to his police
baton around his neck, but further examination is needed to determine whether the
Chinese strangled him or if it was caused by drifting.
Park was found dead 17 hours after going missing during the inspection of the
Chinese boat on Thursday afternoon.
Chinese fishing boats are routinely spotted illegally operating inside Korean
waters, but show no signs of abating, despite continued crackdowns.