MORE than 200 gunshots were fired in a bid to chase off Chinese ships illegally fishing in South Korean waters.
About 40 boats were caught fishing inside South Korea's exclusive economic zone off the west coast on Tuesday morning.
The coastguard first issued initial warnings to the crew, ordering them to leave the waters about 53 nautical miles off the southwest island of Gageo.
But rather than retreat, six of the vessels instead challenged a patrol boat and the coastguard started firing warning shots at the ships, officials said.
Despite the gunshots, the Chinese ships still refused to leave.
The Coastguard then dispatched reinforcements and scared away the fishermen by firing M-60 machine guns and K-2 rifles among other weapons.
The Chinese boats left the area at about 2:43am, five hours after the first warnings shots were fired.
There was no reported damage to either the Chinese vessels or the coastguard, South Korean news agency Yonap reported.
However there have been several violent clashes previously.
Illegal fishing by Chinese boats in South Korean waters has been a long-running headache for Seoul, as fishermen have repeatedly used violence to resist crackdowns.
And the clashes have resulted in wounds, injuries and sometimes death.
A South Korean officer was killed during a raid on a Chinese fishing boat in 2011, forcing Seoul to appeal for Beijing's support in preventing illegal fishing.
As President Moon Jae-in made his first official visit to China last week, bilateral tensions rose when five Chinese warplanes flew in South Korea's air defense identification zone.
The Chinese warplanes included two bombers, two fighter jets and a reconnaissance plane an official confirmed.
The jets were detected infringing on the Korean Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ), a disputed territory from the southwest of Ieo Island, at around 10am.