China has reportedly sent a message to its fishermen to abide maritime laws and refrain from resisting inspections by the South Korean Coast Guard, an apparent move to curb illegal fishing, the Korean government said on Sunday.

According to Yonhap News, Korean officials learned about the message while carrying out interrogation to a Chinese boat that was caught fishing on Thursday in the western coast. The message, which was sent through the Chinese global positioning system Beidou, reportedly came from the marine affairs unit of China's Shandong Province.

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"The South Korean government has strengthened its control over the West Sea and has implemented an 'act first and report later' guideline for its Coast Guard," the message read.

"Fishing boats must stick to the law and not resort to violence," the message continued, adding that fishermen should "firmly stop violating the fishing policies of other countries."

Security forces of South Korean have been allegedly authorized to use firearms and crew-served weapons to seize illegally operating fishermen within its exclusive economic zone, the Korea Times reported.

The warning came after two incidents, which involved the Korean Coast Guard using weapons against illegal fishers, happened earlier this month.

The first incident took place on Nov. 1 when the Korean coast guard for the first time opened fire on a Chinese fishing trawlers straying along Seoul's territorial waters. The second encounter took place on Nov. 12 in which at least 30 Chinese fishing boats have been shot with machine guns off the west coast of Korean.

At both instances, early warnings were reportedly given, and there were no report of injuries or casualties on both sides, according to the Mirror.

South Korea was prompted to use an aggressive firearms policy after the sinking of a 4.5-tonne Korean coast guard ship that had been rammed while attempting to intercept a trawler, the Financial Times noted.

TagsSouth Korean coast guard, South Korean coast guard ship sank, Chinese fishermen korea