A fisherman died and another went missing after a fishing boat sank off South Korea's southernmost island of Jeju on Monday, the Coast Guard said.
The 278-ton fishing ship with a crew of 10 sank in waters some 40 kilometers northeast off the city of Jeju on the island, coast guard officers said. The ship sent a distress message to the coast guard around 1:30 p.m.
Crew members from another fishing boat operating near the scene rescued eight of the vessel's crew around 2:55 p.m., who were riding a lifeboat near the ship waiting for rescue. A helicopter later found one of the two remaining crew, who was in critical condition and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Jeju. The other fisherman is still missing.
The Jeju Coast Guard sent a patrol boat and helicopter to search for the missing fisherman, with a freight vessel and three fishing boats mobilized to help, but inclement weather and strong winds hampered the rescue operations.
It was not immediately known what caused the ship to sink. The ship, which catches mackerel and saurel, left the port of Seogwipo around 12:52 a.m. the previous day. (Yonhap)