Russian Ambassador To North Korea Calls For Creating Joint Body To Fight Poachers

VLADIVOSTOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2019) Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said on Saturday that Moscow and Pyongyang should create a joint body to fight poachers in the Sea of Japan.

The situation around North Korean poachers escalated on September 17 when Russian border guards discovered two North Korean fishing boats and 11 motorboats that were engaged in illegal fishing in Russia's exclusive economic zone, and clashed with the poachers. The incident left several border guards injured, one poacher dead and over 160 North Korean citizens detained.

"We should create a serious bilateral structure that will identify each case of poaching and do everything possible to prevent such activities in the future," Matsegora told the Vladivostok radio broadcaster.

From his point of view, the possible creation of such a body will help Russia and North Korea to decrease the scale of poaching.

The ambassador added that the poachers were now intercepted by Russian officers on the border of the Russian exclusive economic zone.