SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Coast Guard on Tuesday to respond firmly to illegal fishing by Chinese vessels in South Korean waters, his office said. Yoon made the remark during a visit to a Coast Guard unit stationed in Incheon, just west of Seoul, where he inspected the Coast Guard's crackdown on illegal fishing amid peak crabbing season and later boarded a patrol boat together with the unit chief. "The president stressed that the problem of Chinese fishing vessels' illegal operations should be handled from the perspective of the security of our marine resources," his office said in a press release. "In particular, he noted that even North Korea, which has a military alliance with China, strongly clamps down on illegal fishing by Chinese fishing boats, but we have at times been unable to out of concern for our relations with China, and that we should focus on defending our marine security with only our people's safety and interests in mind." Yoon was briefed by Coast Guard and Navy official s on their crackdown on Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally in South Korea's exclusive economic zone and near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas. Chinese illegal fishing has been a recurring issue that has sometimes led to violent clashes between the fishermen and Coast Guard officers involved. During a town hall meeting last month, a local fisherman from the southern city of Yeosu complained that Chinese vessels were sweeping fish from local waters. Yoon instructed the oceans ministry and the Coast Guard at the time to launch a tough crackdown, leading to the seizure of five Chinese fishing boats and the eviction of 36 others during a weeklong special crackdown period at the end of March, the presidential office said. Source: Yonhap News Agency