By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
South Korean and Japanese coast guards Thursday ended their 30-hour maritime standoff over a South Korean fishing boat that briefly crossed into Japanese territorial waters the previous day.

After marathon negotiations over the control of the fishing boat, the ``Shinpung-ho,’’ Japan agreed to withdraw its patrol boats, while South Korea agreed to investigate the charges against the boat, said Lee Kyu-hyung, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

``Japan conceded jurisdiction of the Shinpung-ho to us after we said we would investigate the case under our legal system,’’ another senior government official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said the boat’s owner had to sign a written guarantee that he will pay Japan 500,000 yen (4.6 million won) as a deposit for fines to be levied if its crew is formally found guilty of noncompliance with inspection and flight. ``The captain and crewmembers will be punished under Korean laws if any wrongdoing is found.’’

The Shinpung-ho, a 77-ton eel-fishing boat, was allegedly spotted inside Japan’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) early Wednesday morning. But the boat fled to the Korean EEZ with two Japanese maritime policemen who had boarded the ship to arrest them.

It is not a problem, according to experts, if the South Korean ship had simply entered the Japanese EEZ as the area is open sea. But it matters if the ship was fishing in that spot. Japan failed to present evidence against Shinpung-ho’s denial.

Patrol boats from the two countries were moored on either side of the fishing boat in international waters as negotiations went on until yesterday morning. Each side demanded the other withdraw so the boat could be towed back to their respective side.

The standoff came just a week after Seoul demanded an apology from Tokyo over a senior Japanese official’s comment that Japan was reluctant to share information about North Korea because the United States did not fully trust South Korea.

President Roh Moo-hyun expressed concern earlier in the day that the two-day confrontation might even chill the atmosphere of the scheduled summit meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister in Seoul.

``In the course of negotiations, caution should be exercised by both sides so as not to confront each other emotionally,’’ Roh was quoted as saying by presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo. ``The incident should be resolved rationally, with the sovereignty of both sides respected.’’

Right after the incident occurred, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon met Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa and demanded the Japanese patrol boats be withdrawn from the area, warning the standoff could undermine bilateral ties.

Complying with South Korea’s calls for future-oriented relations, Japan has extended apologies several times for its colonization of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45) and other wartime atrocities in the early 20th century.

But improper remarks by some rightwing Japanese leaders have regularly hindered bilateral relations. Koizumi, since inauguration as prime minister, makes it a rule to pay annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war criminals are honored.

South Korea and Japan were set to hold a variety of festivities this year to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties. But, a series of provocative moves by Japan, including its claim on the South Korean-held Dokdo islets and the distortion of history textbooks, stirred public anger, leaving relations strained.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr