A Korean Coast Guard crew fired its onboard machine gun earlier this afternoon... in a warning to a Chinese fishing boat operating illegally in South Korean waters -- the first time it has exercised a newly-granted power to use force.
  The officers were trying to seize two Chinese fishing boats in the West Sea when they were surrounded and threatened by some 30 other fishing boats.
After firing a warning shot in the air from an M-60 machine gun, the Coast Guard was able to arrest the crews of the two vessels, and are in the process of transferring them to the Incheon coastguard pier.
No fatalities were recorded.
The Korean government last month granted the Coast Guard the power to use weapons including firearms... due to the increasing violence of Chinese poachers found in the West Sea.
Illegal fishing has been a source of diplomatic strain between Seoul and Beijing over the past several years. 

- dc official App