▲ This photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard shows a rubber boat a Chinese man used to smuggle himself out of South Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

police-illegal border crossing

Illegal Chinese immigrant nabbed for crossing Korean sea border on rubber boat

BUSAN, June 13 (Yonhap) -- Police have arrested a Chinese man for attempting to smuggle himself out of South Korea by a rubber boat after his visa expired, officials said Monday.

The Chinese national with Korean ethnicity in his 40s was found by fishermen adrift on a broken rubber boat in international waters some 9 nautical miles south of the southern port city of Busan at around 5:42 p.m. Sunday, according to the Coast Guard.

The man attempted to go to Japan after his Korean work visa expired about 10 days ago, officials said.

After the boat's motor broke down midway, he floated adrift for about 14 hours before being rescued by a fishing boat and then handed over to the Coast Guard, officials said.

Coast Guard officials suspect he tried to illegally enter Japan via Tsushima Island.

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