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Rocky shores along the southern coast of South Korea are suffering due to a few reckless anglers. Some are even camping in restricted areas and drilling holes directly into the rocks.

Reporter Jang Seon-i accompanied a crackdown operation.

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Off the coast of Yeosu, Jeollanam-do.

[National Park 305, departing from Infohang Port.]

About an hour later, the crackdown team arrived in the waters of Geumodo Island.

The boat I boarded is a patrol vessel operated by special judicial police officers from the Korea National Park Service.

They patrol the rocky shores one by one by boat to crack down on illegal activities occurring during fishing.

Anglers targeting black porgy and red seabream, which are currently in season, are spotted.

The crackdown team lands on the island.

They issue a warning notice to an angler who dumped waste.

While fishing on national park rocks is not illegal itself, penalties are imposed for certain actions: 100,000 won for littering, 200,000 won for camping, and 600,000 won for smoking.

A total of 259 illegal acts have been caught on rocky shores over the past three years.

More than half of them took place in restricted areas where civilian access is prohibited.

This is footage capturing a crackdown in an area off-limits to civilians.

[Korea National Park Service Special Judicial Police: We are not cracking down on the act of fishing itself, but rather on the act of entering uninhabited islands.]

Various cooking utensils, along with a parasol, are visible.

[We didn't really know it was a no-camping zone... (We came in around 4:30 PM yesterday.) It was just food to be warmed up so we heated it a little bit, is that not allowed either?]

We inspected Ando, a small island south of Geumodo Island.

Various types of garbage, including cooksets, bottled water, and beer cans, as well as artificial lures used to catch squid called 'egi', were left behind.

In other places, there are multiple traces of holes drilled directly into the rocks to set up fishing rods.

[Korea National Park Service Special Judicial Police: The laws have been strengthened. The act of drilling holes itself is now subject to heavier penalties.]

[Lee Yun-su, Head of the Marine Resources Division at Dadohaehaesang National Park Office: Rocky shores are not just simple rocks, but habitats where marine life lives. We plan to continuously carry out crackdowns to protect those habitats.]

With the cross-the-line behavior of some anglers who think they can just fish and leave, the rocky shores are becoming covered in scars.

(Video by Yang Ji-hoon | Video Editing by Kim Yun-seong | Footage provided by Korea National Park Service)