SEOUL: South Korea’s coastguard Tuesday said they detained a Chinese national who tried to enter the country after travelling from China by jet ski covering a distance of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles).
The man in a life jacket and helmet crossed the Yellow Sea on a 1,800cc jet ski from Shandong province, using binoculars and a compass to navigate while carrying five barrels of fuel.
“While driving, he filled up with gas and dumped the empty barrels into the sea,” the Coast Guard said in a news release.
He called for help when his jet ski got stuck in the tidal flats near the port city of Incheon, west of the cruise terminal.
The coastguard said the man they did not identify was arrested after he “attempted to smuggle into” Incheon.
Authorities said they found no signs the man was a spy.
According to South Korean activist Lee Dae-seon of the non-governmental organization Dialogue China, the person who escaped from the jet ski is Chinese rights activist Kwon Pyong.
Kwon, 35, posted pictures on social media mocking Chinese President Xi Jinping and spent time in a Chinese prison for subversion, Lee told news agency on Tuesday.
“While his method of entering South Korea against the law was wrong, the Chinese authorities’ surveillance and political persecution of Kwon since 2016 is worth his life-threatening crossing to South Korea,” Lee said.
“He is now considering whether to apply for refugee status in South Korea or choose a third country,” he said. South Korea grants asylum to a handful of refugees each year.
