The Arduous Lives of North Korean Fishermen

By Timothy Goo, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor and Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern

October 21, 2020

As demonstrated by Kim Jong-un’s frequent visits to fishing towns and examinations of fish repositories, the regime highly values its fishing industry.[1] This industry plays an essential role in attracting foreign currency and funding the state’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.[2] Data from 2017 indicates that mollusks were the third largest export for North Korea.[3] With the passing of resolution 2371 in August 2017, the United Nations (UN) Security Council instituted a series of stricter sanctions that included targeting the North Korean fishing industry. Resolutions 2371, 2375, and 2397 prohibited the procurement of seafood from North Korea, joint ventures between North Korea and other countries without UN approval, and North Korea from selling or transferring fishing rights.[4]

​Despite such measures taken by the UN, there is an extremely high number of international fishing vessels violating these sanctions and operating in North Korea’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).[5] [6] The Global Fishing Watch states that there were approximately 900 Chinese fishing vessels in 2017, 700 in 2018, and 800 in 2019.[7] While it cannot be concluded that all of the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels detected in North Korean waters are Chinese, we must consider the possibility that the vast majority of them originate from China. Not only does China neighbor North Korea, but also the Chinese distant water fleet (DWF) is identified as the largest fleet relative to all other DWFs that exist.[8] Operating in every region of the world, the Chinese fishing vessels comprise of nearly 40% of all top ten DWF fishing fleets’ activities in other countries’ EEZs.[9]

In North Korea’s EEZ, the two most common fishing vessels used by the Chinese DWF are pair trawlers and lighting vessels.[10] These substantial vessels allow Chinese fishermen to catch mollusks in higher quantities and within shorter periods of time. On the other hand, the North Korean fishermen typically use small wooden boats with plastic propellers. Regardless of the unfavorable conditions given to these North Korean fishermen, they are expected to fulfill non-negotiable quotas set by the Kim regime. North Korean defector, Mr. Lee, shares in a CNA documentary that North Korean fishermen, particularly the executives, would be severely punished for not fulfilling their given quotas.[11] Unable to compete with these more advanced fishing vessels and with a sharp decline in marine stock, North Korean fishermen have no other alternative than to fish in the EEZs of Japan and Russia.[12]

Since this displacement, there has been a significant increase of North Korean “ghost ships”—ships that arrive on shore as a shipwreck, sometimes with decomposed bodies or just skeletal remains—reported by Japan and Russia. For instance, in 2017, there were approximately 100 boats that landed on the Japanese coast with 35 bodies on board.[13] In 2019, there were more than 150 “ghost ships” on Japan’s shores.[14] Exemplified by the conditions of the North Korean boats and mangled bodies, North Korean fishermen are not equipped for the rough seas or long-distance travel.[15] As a result of the disappearance of numerous North Korean fishermen over the years, North Korean port towns, such as Chongjin, have been called “widow villages.”[16]

For the North Korean fishermen and boats that are fortunate enough to survive these perilous journeys, they sometimes bump into Japanese and Russian patrol boats. One of the most climactic incidents in Russia occurred on September 17, 2019, when Russian border guards were investigating two North Korean boats poaching in their territorial waters.[17] A violent outbreak occurred when one of the two North Korean boats opened fire and injured three Russian border guards, leading to the detention of 80 North Koreans and their boats. The North Korean fishermen’s fishing activities and violent actions towards Russian authorities violated the maritime regulations set by the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).[18] While Article 17 of UNCLOS does state that “ships of all States enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea,” Article 19 clarifies that the “passage of a foreign ship [e.g. North Korean boats] shall be considered to be prejudicial to the peace, good order, or security of the coastal State [e.g. Russia] if in the territorial sea, it engages in the following activities: (1) any threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of the coastal State, (2) any exercise or practice with weapons of any kind, and/or (3) any fishing activities.” Furthermore, Article 73 indicates that “the coastal State may, in the exercise of its sovereign rights to explore, exploit, conserve and manage the living resources in the EEZ, take such measures, including boarding, inspection, arrest and judicial proceedings, as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations adopted by it in conformity with this Convention.” Up to 262 North Koreans ended up being detained by the end of that month.[19] A documentary presented by France 24 indicated that the detained fishermen can face up to five years in prison.[20] But, in reality, most of the fishermen end up being deported. An unheralded and ineluctable fact involves several cases of North Koreans arriving to trials wounded. One fisherman was shown limping to court because he was shot in the leg by the Russians. The injuries sustained by these fishermen are often left untreated during their time in Russian custody. Overall, these incursions by North Korean fishermen are likely considered a fringe issue and have minimal apparent impact on North Korea-Russia relations.[21]

Due to Japan’s colonial occupation, the “Yodogo Hijacking”, and North Korea’s abduction of Japanese nationals,[22] [23] the relationship between North Korea and Japan has always been fragile and considered far worse than North Korea-Russia relations. As a result, when North Korean survivors wash up on Japan’s shores and are deported to North Korea via China, nearly all North Korean fishermen, including their families back home, are investigated by North Korean security forces.[24] The primary security agencies in North Korea are the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of People’s Security.[25] The purpose of conducting investigations is to identify if a fisherman attempted to defect and/or received spy training during their time in contact with the Japanese.[26] Whether a fisherman was innocent or not, he would still be maltreated for causing diplomatic humiliation in the eyes of the Kim regime.

While it is critical for the world to recognize that most North Koreans are undergoing some of the harshest conditions known to humanity, it is of equal or even greater importance to identify the unique forms of tribulation each North Korean demographic endures. During a virtual conversation last week with Dr. Sandra Fahy, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Sophia University and former Visiting Fellow for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, she shared that the predicament surrounding North Korean fishermen “brings to mind two further areas of human rights research which continue to trouble rights research on North Korea: the rights of North Korean workers (primarily men who are dispatched abroad) and the rights of workers on the sea. The first point has been studied somewhat already, but bringing in the issue of fishermen is crucial as this is unexamined so far. Secondly, the intersection of fishermen’s rights at sea and workers’ rights is an area that is largely unexplored in human rights research to this day.”[27] It is also worth clarifying that the torment for North Korean fishermen is inflicted by not only the Kim regime, but also by China and Russia. In order to improve this harmful situation for North Korean fishermen, all states including, but not limited to, North Korea, China, Russia, and Japan must be willing to cooperate and carry out corrective measures. By resolving the IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing problem concerning North Korean fishermen, the international community can improve the lives of North Koreans, continue protecting human rights at sea as we do in other domains (e.g. land and air), and positively impact the global IUU fishing situation.[28] [29]

Timothy Goo recently completed his B.A. in International Relations at Wheaton College.

[1] Sang-hun Choe, “Defying U.N. Ban, Chinese Ships Pay North Korea to Fish in Its Waters,” New York Times, July, 22, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/world/asia/north-korea-squid-sanctions-china.html.
[2] Joseph Bermudez, Marie Dumond, “Examining the Modernization and Expansion Project at the Korean People’s Army Fishery Station No. 15,” Beyond Parallel, September 19, 2018, https://beyondparallel.csis.org/modernization-expansion-project-korean-peoples-army-fishery-station-no-15/.
[3] “What does North Korea export? (2017),” The Observatory of Economic Complexity, Last Accessed September 30, 2020, https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/prk/all/show/2017/.
[4] Jaeyoon Park, Jungsam Lee, Katherine Seto, Timothy  Hochberg, Brian A. Wong, Nathan A. Miller, Kenji Takasaki, Hiroshi Kubota, Yoshioki Oozeki, Sejal Doshi, Maya Midzik, Quentin Hanich, Brian Sullivan, Paul Woods, David A. Kroodsma, “Illuminating dark fishing fleets in North Korea,” Science Advances Vol. 6, No. 30 (July 22, 2020), https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/30/eabb1197.
[5] United Nations Security Council, “Final report of the Panel of Experts submitted pursuant to resolution 2407 (2018),” UN Doc. S/2019/171, March 5, 2019.
[6] “North Korea - MRGID 8328,” Marine Regions, Last Accessed September 30, 2020, https://www.marineregions.org/eezdetails.php?mrgid=8328&zone=eez.
[7] Jaeyoon Park, David Kroodsma, “Illuminating Dark Fishing Fleets in North Korea - Analysis for 2019,” Global Fishing Watch, July 22, 2020, https://globalfishingwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/Illuminating-Dark-Fishing-Fleets-in-North-Korea-Analysis-for-2019-1.pdf.
[8] Sally Yozell, Amanda Shaver, “Shining a Light: The Need for Transparency across Distant Water Fishing,” Stimson, November 1, 2019, https://www.stimson.org/wp-content/files/file-attachments/Stimson%20Distant%20Water%20Fishing%20Report.pdf.
[9] Sally Yozell, Amanda Shaver, “Shining a Light: The Need for Transparency across Distant Water Fishing,” Stimson, November 1, 2019, https://www.stimson.org/wp-content/files/file-attachments/Stimson%20Distant%20Water%20Fishing%20Report.pdf.
[10] Jaeyoon Park, Jungsam Lee, Katherine Seto, Timothy  Hochberg, Brian A. Wong, Nathan A. Miller, Kenji Takasaki, Hiroshi Kubota, Yoshioki Oozeki, Sejal Doshi, Maya Midzik, Quentin Hanich, Brian Sullivan, Paul Woods, David A. Kroodsma, “Illuminating dark fishing fleets in North Korea,” Science Advances Vol. 6, No. 30 (July 22, 2020), https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/30/eabb1197.
[11] “The mystery of North Korean ‘ghost ships’,” CNA, September, 23, 2019, YouTube video, 33:23, https://youtu.be/dJ88U_gsEXk?t=2003.
[12] Elena Volochine, Ian M. Quy, “Investigating how North Koreans plunder foreign waters,” France 24, May 8, 2020, https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20200508-exclusive-investigating-how-north-korean-fishermen-plunder-foreign-waters.
[13] Joshua Berlinger, “North Korea ‘ghost ships’ washed up in Japan because of China’s ‘dark’ fishing fleet, NGO says,” CNN, July 23, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/asia/north-korea-ghost-ships-intl-hnk/index.html.
[14] Ian Urbina, “The deadly secret of China’s invisible armada,” NBC News, July 22, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/china-illegal-fishing-fleet/.
[15] Cliff White, “Huge Chinese illegal fishing operation in North Korean waters uncovered,” Sea Food Source, July 22, 2020, https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/huge-chinese-illegal-fishing-operation-in-north-korean-waters-uncovered.
[16] Ian Urbina, “The deadly secret of China’s invisible armada,” NBC News, July 22, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/china-illegal-fishing-fleet/.
[17] “Russia detains two North Korean vessels after one opens fire: reports,” Reuters, September, 17, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-northkorea-incident/russia-detains-two-north-korean-vessels-after-one-opens-fire-reports-idUSKBN1W21GQ.
[18] United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” December 10, 1982.
[19] “Russia Detains Large Group Of North Korean Fishermen, Alleges Massive Poaching,” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, September, 27, 2019, https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-detains-large-group-of-north-korean-fishermen-alleges-massive-poaching/30186712.html.
[20] Elena Volochine, Ian M. Quy, “Investigating how North Koreans plunder foreign waters,” France 24, May 8, 2020, YouTube video, 15:00, https://youtu.be/ytbEt8do3r8?t=900.
[21] Emily Ferris, Hamish MacDonald, “Russia and North Korea Are Fighting - Over Fish,” Foreign Policy, April, 22, 2020, https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/22/russia-and-north-korea-are-fighting-over-fish/.
[22] On March 31, 1970, Japan Airlines Flight 351, an aircraft scheduled to fly from Tokyo to Fukuoka, was hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Red Army. While the hijackers redirected the plane to North Korea, they released many of the hostages at Fukuoka Airport in Japan and Kimpo Airport in South Korea. In the end, the hijackers successfully escaped to North Korea and took refuge there. The remaining hostages that also arrived in North Korea were flown back to Tokyo on April 5. This event came to be known as the “Yodogo Hijacking.”
GIKorea, “DMZ Flashbacks: The 1970 JAL 351 ‘Yodogo Hijacking’,” ROK Drop, July, 11 2018, https://www.rokdrop.net/2018/07/dmz-flashbacks-the-1970-jal-351-yodogo-hijacking/.
“Movements of the Japanese Red Army and the ‘Yodo-go’ Group,” Wayback Machine, March 23, 2011, https://web.archive.org/web/20110323030221/http://www.npa.go.jp/keibi/kokutero1/english/pdf/sec03.pdf.
[23] Yoshi Yamamoto, Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2011), https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Taken_LQ.pdf.
[24] “The mystery of North Korean ‘ghost ships’,” CNA, September, 23, 2019, YouTube video, 41:00, https://youtu.be/dJ88U_gsEXk?t=2462.
[25] Robert Collins, Amanda Mortwedt Oh, From Cradle to Grave: The Path of North Korean Innocents  (Washington, DC: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2017), https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Collins_Cradle_to_Grave_WEB_FINALFINAL.pdf.
[26] “The mystery of North Korean ‘ghost ships’,” CNA, September, 23, 2019, YouTube video, 41:00, https://youtu.be/dJ88U_gsEXk?t=2462.
[27] Sandra Fahy, Email, October 11, 2020.
[28] “Home,” Human Rights at Sea, Last Accessed October 12, 2020, https://www.humanrightsatsea.org.
[29] “Home,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Last Accessed Oct 18, 2020, http://www.fao.org/iuu-fishing/en/.