NORTH KOREAN officials have demanded payment before they will release Chinese fishing boats with 29 men on board, Chinese media reported Thursday, in a rare public spat between the neighbors.

    The Chinese owners of the boats said they were seized by a North Korean gunboat May 8 in the Yellow Sea, between China and North Korea, Beijing News reported.

    The owners said the vessels were fishing in Chinese waters. North Korea has not made any public comment on the case.

    The North Koreans holding the boats and sailors demanded payment of 1.2 million yuan (US$189,800) for releasing them, then cut their price to 900,000 yuan and set a deadline of Thursday, Zhang Dechang, owner of one of the captured boats, told the newspaper, which called the demand a “ransom.”

    The 29 sailors are now in North Korea, a captured seaman said in a call with an owner, the newspaper said.

    China is a major supplier of food aid and oil to North Korea, which remains isolated by sanctions over its nuclear ambitions and rocket launches.

    It was unclear whether the seizure of the boats was authorized by the North Korean Government or was the initiative of local officials.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry told Beijing News that the incident was a “fisheries case,” and will be resolved as soon as possible.(SD-Agencies)