In this study, an improvement plan was derived by statistically analyzing the system and current status of tests in Korea and survey of seafarers perception in order to improve the expertise of the Korean fishing vessel officer examination. Recently, about 70% of marine accident occurs from fishing vessels. Therefore, it's necessary to improve the examination to reduce marine accidents. As a result, it was identified that an average of 29,265 applicants have applied over the past four years, and among them, 1,833 people have applied for fishing vessel licenses, accounting for 6.3% of the total. According to the result of explanation and response of 115 people, they responded that practical utilization was low, each operation waters has different requirements and it’s necessary to improve the contents of the questions for the specialty subject. In addition, inappropriate questions were found in previous exams. To reduce marine accidents caused by human error and to improve the professionalism of fishing vessel officers, it is necessary to adjust the test criteria and ratio with characteristics of fishing vessels and in the long run, institutional improvements such as the distinction between test subjects and licenses are needed.

The problem of illegal Chinese fishing and Chinese fishermen’s violent resistance to Korean law enforcement in the Yellow Sea have been a long-standing point at issue between Korea and China. It is not merely a problem of illegal fishing in Korean waters; this conflict could disrupt the integrity of the Exclusive Economic Zone and even undermine the friendly relations between the two countries. This article is to analyze the current status of the illegal Chinese fishing in the Yellow Sea and to provide a perspective on legal questions concerning the Korea-China Fishery Agreement to govern the fishery issue. This article suggests challenges ahead to solve the illegal fishing problem by examining factors causing the problem. It also provides a political perspective on the illegal fishing problem, which has become a highly newsworthy issue between Korea and China.