7/29

[수친구]

N. Korean fishing boat being probed for ‘mistakenly’ crossing into South

A North Korean fishing boat carrying three passengers crossed the marine border into South Korea in the East Sea late Saturday, Seoul’s military said Sunday.

The boat has been towed to a South Korean military port for investigation.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the wooden boat was first spotted about 5.5 kilometers above the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, at around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday. It started moving down in a straight line to cross the NLL at 11:21 p.m.

A South Korean Navy vessel tows a North Korean boat into the military port in Gangwon Province on Sunday. (South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff)

The South Korean Navy, which was keeping watch, immediately deployed a high-speed boat, a rigid-hulled inflatable boat and a patrol frigate to the scene.

“The North Korean crew said they lost their way and crossed the border by mistake,” a JCS official explained.

When South Korean Navy officers checked the boat and asked the three crew members whether they had come with the purpose of defecting, they reportedly denied the notion.

The three North Koreans were taken to a naval port in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, for investigation. The 10-meter wooden boat was also towed.

The JCS said there was an abundance of fishing gear on the boat, with squid in the storage cabin. A white towel was tied to the mast.

Not all North Korean fishing boats are brought to the South for investigation. But the fishing boat on Saturday was towed as there were some peculiar points that need to be clarified, the JCS official explained.

While the North Korean crew said they crossed into South Korean seas by mistake, they entered in a straight line, the JCS said. The tag on the boat also showed the boat to be operated by the North Korean military, though further investigation is needed to confirm‎ whether the fishermen are from the North Korean military.

The boat was the only vessel spotted around the NLL area at the time.

The South Korean military appears to have taken swift action on the North Korean boat, as it came under fire for letting a fishing boat from the North reach a South Korean port city undetected in June.

At the time, the North Korean boat carrying four sailed through the East Sea and reached Samcheok Port in Gangwon Province. Two crew members even came up on land to speak with South Korean civilians.

In the joint government investigation, two expressed their desire to stay in the South, and the other two were returned to North Korea.

About 380 North Korean fishing boats were expelled for illegally fishing below the NLL from May 31 to July 14, according to the Defense Ministry. The number appears to have surged from last year’s 40, as shoals of squid have increased around the border line this year.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)

[수친구]

A rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) or rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity unsinkable boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat’s topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy.

[수친구]

rigid 영어
발음미국/영국 [rídʒid]
뜻① 경직된 ② 엄격한 ③ 융통성이 없는 ④ 굳어진 더보기
숙어
a rigid piece of plastic 단단하고 구부러지지 않는 플라스틱

a face rigid with pain 고통으로 굳어진 얼굴

[수친구]

hull 영어
발음미국/영국 [hʌl]
뜻① …의 겉껍질을 벗기다 ② (낟알·씨앗 등의) 겉껍질 ③ (일반적으로) 덮개 ④ (딸기 등의) 꼭지

[수친구]

inflatable 영어
발음미국/영국 [infléitəbl]
뜻① 부풀릴 수 있는 ② 팽창성의 ③ 한때 폭발적으로 유행하였으나 지금은 시들한

[수친구]

frigate 영어
발음미국/영국 [frígit]
뜻① 프리깃함 ② 호위함 ③ 구축함보다 큰 군함

[수친구]

defect 영어
발음미국/영국 [díːfekt , difékt]
뜻① 결함 ② 장애 ③ 탈주 ④ 이탈

[수친구]

notion 영어
발음미국/영국 [nóuʃən]
뜻① 개념 ② 생각 더보기
숙어
the notion of law 법의 개념

I have not the faintest notion (of) what he is talking about. 그가 무슨 말을 하고 있는지 도무지 알 수 없다.

[수친구]

squid 영어
발음미국/영국 [skwid]
뜻① 오징어 ② 초전도 양자 간섭계 ③ 대잠수함 박격포

[수친구]

mast 영어
발음미국 [mæst]
뜻① 돛대 ② 마스트 ③ 깃발 ④ 돛 더보기
숙어
cling to a mast 돛대에 매달리다.