By Park Gil-ja and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Yonhap News

The country's five border islands in the Yellow Sea -- Baengnyeongdo, Yeonpyeongdo, Daecheongdo, Socheongdo and Udo -- are quite close to North Korea. Due to national division, residents of these islands have been limited in earning income because of where they can legally fish and a ban on night fishing.

Cross-border tension persisted around these islands for a long time as inter-Korean military conflict continued in the form of naval skirmishes or artillery shelling by the North.

Thanks to the thawing atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula, these five islands, once considered a flashpoint in the region, will be reborn as part of sea routes forming a "peace economy." 

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Feb. 20 that by April 1, it will expand fishing grounds to an area 34,310 times bigger than a soccer field around the five islands. Night fishing, which was banned in 1964, will be allowed for 30 minutes after sunset and half an hour before sunrise.

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Young-Choon told a news briefing "Fishing grounds in the Yellow Sea will be expanded by 245 square kilometers from 1,614 square kilometers to 1,859," adding, "This is the single largest expansion of the country’s ten previous expansions since 1992, when South Korea expanded fishing grounds by 280 square kilometers." 

"Once dubbed a ‘sea of tension,’ the Yellow Sea is transforming itself into a ‘sea of peace’ thanks to the Panmunjom Declaration of April 27 (last year), the Pyeongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018 and the September 19 military agreement." 

A combined 202 South Korean fishing boats have been catching every year 4,000 tons of crab, skate, shrimp and sand eel, earning KRW 30 billion. The ministry also predicted that the latest expansion will help fishermen in the region increase their haul more than 10 percent.

"This will offer us an opportunity to confirm that peace is the economy," Kim said.

krun@korea.kr