SEOUL – The owner of a captured Chinese fishing boat says North Korea “should apologize” for seizing his vessel and its 16-man crew from within Chinese territorial waters.

The crew and ship were released at 0350CST this morning. The boat’s onboard fuel had been taken by the North Koreans, and the crew were beaten, the boat’s owner said.

Yu Xuejun, the owner of the boat who has built up more than 17,000 followers on his Tencent Weibo account on the Chinese internet, has been using Chinese social media for the last few days to publicize the case.

NK News has