One Presumed Body of Missing Person Found in Geumseongho Sinking Accident

A body presumed to be a missing person from the sinking of the 135 Geumseongho off the coast of Jeju has been found.

Jeju Coast Guard vessels are conducting nighttime searches to find the missing persons. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Jeju Regional Maritime Police Agency on the 10th, around 9 p.m. the previous day, while conducting an underwater search with the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) of the Navy's Gwangyang ship, a body presumed to be a missing person was discovered near the sunken hull underwater.

The body recovery operation was completed around 11:18 p.m., about two hours after the discovery. At the scene, flares are being deployed to continue nighttime maritime search efforts to find the remaining missing persons.

Earlier, at 4:31 a.m. on the 8th, the maritime police received a report from a nearby fishing vessel that the 129-ton large purse seine fishing vessel 135 Geumseongho, registered in Busan, was sinking about 22 km northwest of Biyangdo, Jeju. Of the 27 crew members (16 Koreans and 11 Indonesians) on board, 15 were rescued by nearby vessels, but two of the Koreans died.