China Demands North Korea Release Captured Fishermen

Tensions in Asian disputed waters continued mounting Sunday, when the owner of a fishing boat voiced concern over his vessel and crew that were captured earlier this month by unidentified North Koreans and are still being held for ransom.

Owner Yu Xuejun called on the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang May 10, pleading for help in finding the captured fishing boat and its crew based out of Dalian, a northern Chinese port city.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that they had approached North Korean officials, in efforts to convince Pyongyang to release ship and its team. Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told the New York Times that he insisted North Korea keep the crew members safe.

"China is in close communication with North Korea over the Chinese fishing vessel held by the North," he said. "China has made representations to North Korea through the relevant channels, demanding that it properly deal with the matter as quickly as possible and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights of the Chinese fishermen, as well as the safety of their lives and property."

Beijing and Pyongyang have historically been allies, despite recent animosity over Pyongyang's missile firing and nuclear activity. In the past few months, however, the two entities have disagreed further with one another over uninhabited areas of the Yalu and Tumen rivers that act as borders between China and North Korea.

The incident, which the Chinese media reports happened on May 5, still bears hazy details.

Yu said that there were 16 men aboard the ship, and that North Korean authorities demanded about $98,000 to be paid by Sunday for the crew's safe return.

Yu, in a stream of posts on Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s blog, said that he had urged the Chinese Ministry to make more attempts to protect and bring home the fishermen.

"We just hope the country is able to protect our rights and interests, and lessen the instances of Chinese boats being detained by North Korea in China's territorial waters."

North Korean officials have not released comment on the matter.