Rise in Chinese nationals arriving by boat raises concerns in Korea
Driven by political, economic pressures, people from China cross vast stretches of open sea in search of better life
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.
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 intercepted two Chinese nationals near Incheon after they crossed from China in an inflatable boat while attempting to enter Korea illegally. The boat, equipped with a 30-horsepower engine, life jackets and a compass, traveled about 234 kilometers in 20 hours before the pair lost their way and drifted amid rough weather and fog.
Investigators said the man in his 30s and woman in her 50s had previously stayed in Korea, but were deported last year for lacking legal status. They later attempted to return to claim unpaid wages.
Source : https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20250910/rise-in-chinese-nationals-arriving-by-boat-raises-concerns-in-korea |
