Two Russian sailors arrested for allegedly beating another crew member to death

Two Russian crewmen were arrested for fatally assaulting a fellow sailor aboard an 813-ton Russian-flagged deep-sea fishing vessel, the Busan Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

Two Russian sailors re-enact the moment when they allegedly beat another crew member to death on a boat in Busan. [BUSAN COAST GUARD]

Two Russian crewmen were arrested for fatally assaulting a fellow sailor aboard an 813-ton Russian-flagged deep-sea fishing vessel, the Busan Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

The two men, a boatswain and a deckhand, allegedly beat the man to death on Nov. 1 when the ship was anchored in Yeongdo District, Busan.

The pair had long harbored grievances against the victim, claiming he drank while working and neglected his duties — the reason that the verbal-turned-physical altercation began — according to the Coast Guard.

In the early stages of the investigation, the suspects falsely told authorities that the victim had “died because he drank too much.”

The Coast Guard determined the cause of death and established the suspects' involvement by analyzing bloodstains and DNA found on board and securing video surveillance footage from the vessel.

“By deploying a specialized investigation team early on, we were able to uncover that what could have been disguised as a simple, accidental death was in fact a group assault,” said an official at the Coast Guard.

“We will take a zero-tolerance approach to violent crimes that threaten order and lives on board vessels and we will pursue cases that endanger the safety of both Korean and foreign crew members to the end to hold those responsible accountable.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JUNG SI-NAE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]