Rise in Chinese nationals arriving by boat raises concerns in Korea

An unidentified inflatable boat drifted ashore on the west coast of Jeju Island on Monday. Inside the abandoned vessel were fishing rods, six life jackets, and emergency food packets with Chinese writing. After receiving a report, the Korea Coast Guard launched a joint investigation with the military and other agencies. Hours into the investigation, police arrested a Chinese man in his 40s, whose name was not released. On Tuesday, they apprehended another Chinese man in his 30s and were tracking four others believed to have arrived with them. What investigators uncovered next was startling. The men had crossed nearly 460 kilometers of open sea in an inflatable boat powered by a 90-horsepower engine, leaving Nantong in China’s Jiangsu Province on Sunday and arriving in Jeju early the next morning — a perilous journey undertaken in hopes of making money, they told police. It was not the first time Chinese nationals had braved the open seas to reach Korea. Driven by politics and economic hardship, similar crossings have increased in recent years. In March, the Korea Coast Guard intercepteWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times