Coast Guard vessels [Yonhap News file photo] Not directly related to the article content.

The Chinese national apprehended off the coast of Taean after entering South Korean territorial waters in a rubber boat has been identified as human rights activist Dong Guangping, who has attempted to flee China multiple times, the U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 26th (local time).

According to the NYT, Dong Guangping (68), who served as a police officer and soldier in China, was dismissed from the police force in 1999 for signing a letter related to the Tiananmen Square incident. He was detained by Chinese authorities in 2014 after participating in a Tiananmen Square commemoration event.

He was released the following year and fled to Thailand with his family. While in Thailand, he was recognized as a refugee by the Committee for Human Rights, the predecessor to the UN Human Rights Council.

However, the Thai government applied charges of illegal entry to Dong Guangping, who was residing in Thailand, and forcibly repatriated him to China.

Sentenced to prison for inciting the subversion of state power, he was released in 2019 and attempted to escape by swimming towards Taiwan in December of the same year, but this plan also failed.

In 2020, he went to Vietnam and hid for over two years, but was arrested by Vietnamese authorities in August 2022 and repatriated to China again.

Sheng Xue, a Chinese-Canadian who is helping Dong Guangping, said he was inspired by the case of human rights activist Quan Ping, who illegally entered South Korea using a jet ski three years ago.

According to the NYT, Quan Ping attempted to illegally enter South Korea by jet ski from China in 2023 and was arrested by the Coast Guard near Incheon. He was subsequently imprisoned in South Korea for several months on charges of illegal entry but moved to the United States in 2024 and applied for asylum.

Sheng Xue told the NYT that Dong Guangping wishes to go to Canada, where his daughter resides. Dong Guangping and his family had previously obtained refugee status from the Canadian government when they fled to Thailand.

Regarding the case of Dong Guangping, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated, "Due to privacy reasons, we cannot comment on individual cases," but emphasized, "It is important to highlight that Canada has a proud tradition of protecting refugees and supporting their resettlement based on compassion, respect, and dignity," the NYT reported.

According to the Taean Coast Guard, a fishing boat reported finding a rubber boat carrying one Chinese national off the coast of Taean the previous day.

The Coast Guard dispatched a patrol vessel to apprehend the person on the rubber boat and is currently investigating the circumstances.

A Coast Guard official told Yonhap News on the 27th in a phone call, "We have applied for an arrest warrant for this Chinese national," adding, "We cannot confirm the identity of this person."