[Hankyoreh, June 23] Legal red tape threatening divers on Jeju Island (Fwd)

[아름드리 나무]

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/643656.html

Legal red tape threatening divers on Jeju Island

Diving companies protesting law that prohibits transporting divers using fishing boats

By Song Ho-kyun, staff reporter in Jeju

Posted on : Jun.23,2014 16:04 KST
Ralf Deutsch describes himself as a Jeju “native.” Originally from Germany, the 53-year-old has lived on the island for 20 years.On the morning of June 20, he went to the provincial government office to join a protest organized by the owners and instructors of local scuba diving businesses. Deutsch stood among a deeply tanned crowd of dozens yelling, “Wake up! Wake up!” In his hands was a sign reading, “Guarantee survival rights.”“I can’t understand the South Korean government,” he said. “Why don’t they just fix the law?”Deutsch started out as a German teacher at Jeju National University. Bewitched by the beauty of the island’s waters, in 2001 he decided to leave that job and set up the country’s first foreign-run diving shop in Seogwipo.“A lot of foreigners don’t really know about diving in Jeju,” he explained. “Some of them have gone into the ocean not expecting much, only to tell me later how stunned they were by the colors of the soft coral and all the fish.”The fifty diving shop owners, diving instructors, and fishing boat captains that day had gathered to protest a law punishing those who use fishing boats to transport divers. Some of Jeju’s major diving points, such as Mun Island, Beom Island, and Sup Island, are only accessible by boat, but anyone who uses a fishing boat to ferry divers faces a Coast Guard crackdown on Fishing Management and Promotion Act violations.The boats’ owners say losing the diver business would be a serious financial blow. Kim Won-guk, 47, is a diving instructor who was questioned by the Coast Guard on June 16.“If things keep drying up like this, it’s going to be hard to make a living,” he said.Deutsch is among those feeling the pinch.“This morning, I had to explain things and turn away a Turkish tourist who wanted to go diving,” he said. “It’s a shame. We have this beautiful beach, but nobody’s fixing the legal issues.”An amendment to the act that would permit fishing boats to carry divers has been on ice in the National Assembly for the past year.“Forty to fifty thousand divers come to Jeju Island every year,” said the operator of one diving resort in Seogwipo. “It’s a situation where everyone loses.”　Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]