2 dead, 12 missing after fishing boat sinks near Jeju Island

A fishing boat carrying 27 people sank off the coast of Jeju Island on Friday, leaving two dead and 12 missing as authorities set up an emergency task force for rescue operations.

As of Friday morning, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is commanding rescue operations at the emergency headquarters in Jeju City. Dozens of vessels and multiple aircraft from the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and the civilian sector are conducting search and rescue operations in the waters off Biyangdo Island.

President Yoon Seuk Yeol has instructed relevant branches of the government, including the defense and ocean ministries, to use all available resources to rescue the missing crew. He also stressed the need to ensure the safety of the rescue workers.

The 129-ton Geumseong, with 16 Korean and 11 foreign national crew, sent a distress signal to the Coast Guard at around 4:33 a.m. Shortly after, it sank 24 kilometers off the Biyangdo. Fifteen crew were pulled out of the water, but two -- both Korean -- were pronounced dead.

Ten Koreans and two foreign crew members remain unaccounted for as of Friday morning, and the boat is completely submerged.

The surviving crew told the Coast Guard that Geumseong capsized as they were transferring their catch to another boat. All but two members of the crew were working on the deck at the time of the accident, and are presumed not to have been wearing life vests.

Further information on the accident is slated to be released by the Jeju Coast Guard at 2 p.m.

The Geumseong left Seogwipo harbor on the southern part of Jeju Island shortly before noon Thursday. The boat was not loaded beyond its crew capacity at the time of sinking.