to Far East made in 1954, the U.S. government stressed that the one-sided declaration of the Syngman Rhee Line was illegal under international law. Outcome The fishing boats - which were mostly Japanese - that violated the boundary line were seized by South Korea. This often transpired using the patrol boats provided by the United States. Japanese records claim that such ships were often fired upon. The Japanese government protested the seizures and unilateral declaration strongly, but the abolition of the line had to wait even for the approval of the Japan-Korea Fishery Agreement in 1965. By the time an agreement was reached, 328 Japanese ships were seized, with 3929 Japanese arrested, resulting in 44 casualties (deaths and injuries). Japan also stopped prohibited its fishing gear manufacturers from exporting to South Korea and stopped importing South Korean products. The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, signed on June 22, 1965, did not specifically address maritime issues. Resolution Solving the issue of the Syngman Rhee Line required many years. Obstacles to its settlement included the fact that there were no formal diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea at the time, that normalization talks were complicated by various compensation claims, and the refusal of the United States to intervene on the issue, regarding it as bilateral. The conflict also became an issue of nationalism for Japan and South Korea so that, in the course of their negotiations during the postwar years, any semblance of compromise or concession amounted to treason in both countries. The process took 14 years, five Japanese Prime Ministers, and three South Korean Presidents. The negotiations improved dramatically after Park Chung Hee (1961-1979) seized power in South Korea. At this point, the territorial dispute was no longer a primary issue due to an increasing pressure to improve bilateral relations, shifting the focus from the "peace line" to the diplomatic and economic affairs such as the fishery negotiations. According to the demand of the South Korea Government, Japanese Government released 472 Korean criminals in Japan who had been imprisoned as a serious criminal or a habitual criminal and granted them the special permission of residence in exchange for the restoration of Japanese detainees. Korea refused an enforced repatriation to Korea of illegal immigrants, serious criminals and political offenses. Timeline September 2, 1945 Japanese Government accepted the Potsdam Declaration. January 29, 1946 Governmental and Administrative