And You Thought the DNR was Bad

In a case of what can only be called really bad timing, a bunch of South Korean and Chinese fishermen decided to try their luck in the more promising waters off the shore of North Korea recently. Let’s hope they had complete replacement as part of their boat insurance policy.

While North Korea has always been a little funny about outsiders in their waters, the timing couldn’t have been any worse for the fishermen, four of whom are South Korean and three of whom are Chinese. The boat was picked up by the North Korean military just as the United States and South Korea were conducting joint naval exercises in disputed waters.

While the North Koreans lack the naval punch to really do anything about the United States’ naval juggernaut conducting operations in waters they claim, they apparently do have enough power to deal with a civilian fishing boat. To their credit, they didn’t attempt to sink the damned thing like they did with the ship full of South Korean naval cadets recently.

In the United States, if you’re caught fishing where you’re not supposed to, they don’t generally send out the Navy. We don’t even bother with the Coast Guard in most cases. Generally, we send out the DNR.

Now, anyone who has ever had dealings with the DNR knows that there’s only a slight shade of difference between that organization and the meanest Communist dictatorship on the planet. One wrong move and they can seize your fish, your tackle, your boat, and the truck you used to haul it. And all the boat insurance in the world won’t help you get any of it back.

Fortunately, in this country, we do have some recourse, however. We can petition through the court system if we feel we have been treated unfairly. Unfortunately, the DNR wins most of those kinds of cases, but we can at least bitch about it legally.

In North Korea, the legal options are somewhat more limited. Writing an article like this criticizing a government agency can be a deadly proposition there. On top of that, they really haven’t caught on to the notion of treating those they consider criminals with dignity yet. So, no cable TV in the air conditioned cells for these poor fishermen.

Of course, the South Korean government is calling for the fishermen’s release. Here’s hoping they’ll live to fish another day. Let’s just hope that if they do, they have the good sense to stay out of North Korean waters. I don’t care how big the fish are over there, it just isn’t worth it.

View the original article here