China calls for action over fatal shooting of fisherman

Foreign ministry urges S.Korea to conduct probe

China urged South Korea to immediately carry out thorough investigations into a Friday accident which resulted in a Chinese fisherman being shot dead by the South Korean coast guard in the latest maritime conflict between the two countries.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily briefing on Friday that the Chinese government was "shocked" and "extremely dissatisfied" at what had happened and had lodged a formal protest.

"We demand an earnest and thorough investigation and that South Korea severely punish the person responsible, and report to China in a timely manner the result of the probe," Hong said.

"The skipper was shot dead in the process of the crackdown. Details on the incident will be announced in the near future, but not today," a coast guard official told Xinhua.

The skipper of the 80-ton fishing boat Luyingyu 50987, was 45-year-old Song Houmu. The incident occurred at about 8:30 am local time in waters some 144 kilometers west of the Wangdeung Island in Buan County, North Jeolla Province.

Song was taken to Mokpo Hankook Hospital in the city of Mokpo by helicopter and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but was confirmed dead on the way.

"The cause of Song's death is presumed to be the penetrating injuries sustained from a bullet," Jeong Jong-hyun, an emergency doctor at the hospital, told Yonhap.

The hospital said that Song was shot from the back to the left side of his abdomen according to a CT image. A piece of 1.6 cm bullet was left inside of his body, and his lung filled with blood.

The South Korean coast guard reportedly sent two patrol ships to board Song's boat and question the fishermen on board.

Four separate Chinese fishing boats stayed close to the Luyingyu 50987 during the questioning, using violence to protest against the move, according to Yonhap.

One South Korean officer then fired warning shots with a K5 pistol, which were believed to have caused the death of the skipper.

"It is inappropriate for South Korea to use domestic law on Chinese fishermen without a clear division of the exclusive economic zones that apply to the two sides," Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime-border expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times Friday.

The use of violence is also unwarranted according to international law, Wang added.

A Chinese fisherman died after being shot by rubber bullets from a South Korean coast guard officer in what South Korean authorities said was a raid on illegal fishing in 2012.