South Korean authorities said on Wednesday they are questioning a Chinese citizen discovered in a rubber boat off the country’s west coast. According to local media, the individual is believed to be a dissident who had made several previous attempts to escape China.
The Taean Coast Guard stated that the man was found late Monday about 38 nautical miles off the west coast after a fishing boat crew spotted his 3.3-metre (11-foot) inflatable vessel equipped with a 10-horsepower motor and notified authorities.
Ongoing Investigation
He was arrested and is being questioned on suspicion of immigration law violations, it said.
The location where he was picked up was inside South Korean territorial waters, the statement said.
A coast guard official declined to confirm the name of the suspect and explain how he may have reached the location but described him as a Chinese male in his sixties.
The time and the circumstances of his arrest matched the case of a Chinese dissident identified by the New York Times as Dong Guangping, who it said had previously escaped to Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan only to be sent back to China each time.
The location where he was found is located roughly on the shortest straight line between South Korea and China of about 310 km (193 miles).
Fleeing From China
Officials at the Chinese embassy in Seoul could not be reached for comment with telephone calls diverted to a recorded message. The Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2023, another Chinese national, who a South Korean activist said, was fleeing authorities at home, was detained by South Korea’s coast guard after riding more than 300 km on a jet ski with five containers of fuel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
