South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday charged the captain of a Chinese fishing boat with murdering a coastguard during a raid on the vessel for illegal fishing, a report said.

The 42 year-old skipper is accused of fatally stabbing one coastguard with a knife and seriously wounding another on December 12 after officers boarded his boat in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency reported.

Prosecutors in the west coast port of Incheon also charged nine of his crew members with obstructing the raid, the agency quoted officials as saying.

The boat was inside South Korea's exclusive economic zone when it was boarded by coastguard officers.

It was the second time a South Korean coastguard had died at the hands of Chinese fishermen in less than four years and the incident sparked widespread anger.

Seoul urged Beijing to take stronger action against illegal fishing and lawmakers sought tougher punishment of violators.

The government has announced plans to spend 932.4 billion won ($811 million) between 2012-15 on better equipping its forces as part of a crackdown on poaching, including issuing more firearms.

South Korea said it seized 475 boats last year compared with 370 in the whole of 2010. When stopped, Chinese crews often fight back with metal pipes and knives or lash their boats together to deter boarders.

During a visit to Beijing by President Lee Myung-Bak this week, South Korea and China agreed to continue holding regular consultative meetings to resolve the issue of illegal fishing by Chinese boats.