“Secretly stealing 5.2 tons of saejogae at night...” Coast Guard identifies and apprehends 1,489 people in maritime crime cases this year

[Financial News] A large number of maritime offenders who threatened safety at sea and local livelihoods—by stealing large quantities of saejogae from fishing village aquaculture farms at night or illegally modifying vessels, among other crimes—were caught in an intensive Coast Guard crackdown.
The Korea Coast Guard said on the 3rd that it had apprehended 1,489 people in 1,260 cases after investigation units and field units, including front-line Coast Guard stations, jointly conducted a “Special Crackdown on Offenders Undermining Maritime Safety and Harming People's Livelihoods” from February through September. Compared with the same period last year, the number of maritime safety offenders rose by 19.1%, while the number of livelihood-related offenders increased by 164%.

The special crackdown uncovered a total of 492 cases involving 542 offenders who undermined maritime safety.
By category, illegal extensions and alterations to vessel structures—which directly affect a vessel's stability—were the most common, with 144 cases. They were followed by operating without a license or registration (104 cases), failure to undergo vessel inspections (79 cases), and overloading or carrying too many passengers (69 cases). In particular, numerous cases of operating vessels under the influence and illegal modifications—both of which can lead to major maritime accidents—were uncovered, showing that disregard for safety at sea remains a serious problem.

A total of 768 cases involving 947 livelihood-related offenders were uncovered. These offenses caused severe economic harm to fishers and contributed to the depletion of fishery resources.
In one major case, offenders mobilized seven vessels, including diving and dredge-net fishing boats, and stole 5,200 kg of saejogae without authorization from an aquaculture farm operated by a fishing village association at night. Numerous other cases involved advance-payment and fishing-rights fraud targeting fishers, as well as illegal three-layer gillnet fishing without a permit. By type, property crimes were the most common, with 351 cases, followed by fisheries offenses (340 cases) and safety offenses (65 cases).
The KCG said it had improved its arrest record by strengthening coordination with front-line Coast Guard stations as complaints related to these offenses continued to rise.
Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Ha Man-sik said, “We will continue intensive enforcement until illegal acts that seriously threaten maritime safety and the order of the livelihood economy are completely eradicated.” He urged the public, “If you come across illegal maritime activities in the field, please actively report them to the Coast Guard at any time.”


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter