Three Chinese fishing crews held for ransom by North Koreans for almost two weeks returned to their home port of Dalian, Liaoning, yesterday, ending a tense diplomatic crisis.
All 28 fishermen captured were released, the website of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily said.
Previous media reports had stated 29 Chinese fishermen had been captured but in fact one had left his vessel because of sea sickness shortly before the ships ran into three North Korean gunships in the Yellow Sea on May 8. State media said the central government had been unaware of his departure due to a lack of radio contact with the boats after their capture.
Sun Caihui , the owner of one of the boats, said yesterday all missing crew had returned and were receiving medical treatment after enduring almost two weeks of confinement, starvation and mental and physical abuse in North Korea.
He was deeply shocked by his crew's brutal mistreatment.
The entire crew had been confined inside a garbage compartment and told to rot with the fish until their relatives paid a ransom of 400,000 yuan (HK$488,902), Sun said.
'They ate, slept and had to relieve themselves in a dark room filled with rotten, dead fish,' he said. 'It would be difficult enough for a single person to spend a day in such an environment. I cannot imagine what my best shipmates had to cope with in order to survive over 13 days.'