Chinese fishermen, vessels freed in North Korea | WPN World People News

The 29 Chinese fishermen and three fishing vessels seized in the Yellow Sea by unidentified North Koreans have been freed, marking an end to a 13-day standoff but the mystery persists about the identity of the captors.

The fishermen returned to the Chinese port of Dalian Monday morning, after the North Korean foreign ministry notified the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang that the men were free, according to Xinhua news agency.

The New China News Agency said Beijing didn't pay any ransom for the release of the men and the boats.

Media reports said China's ambassador in Pyongyang Liu Hongcai secured the release through "negotiation and close contact" with the North Korean government.

Jiang Yaxian, a counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang, told Xinhua news agency that the men were in "sound health condition with sufficient food and healthcare".

The group was stopped on May 8 while fishing in the Chinese waters of the Yellow Sea, as claimed by the boat owners who said that they were forced at gunpoint to sail toward North Korea.

Their captors had asked for payment in return for the release.

One of the boat owners, Zhang Dechang, told the Beijing News that the captors initially demanded payment of $189,800 for the return of the men and the boats.

It was not immediately clear who the captors were even as some media reports suggested that some North Korean groups had started engaging in Somalia type piracy to raise money

Sun Caihui, the owner of one of the fishing boats, last week said the vessel that captured his ship was a small, heavily armed military vessel. "The kidnappers' ship is definitely from the North Korea military," he said.

China is North Korea's closest ally. But the waters of the Yellow Sea, home to rich marine life, have seen clashes in the past between vessels from China and the two Koreas.

Source:Asia Pacific News.Net