Two dead, 12 missing after fishing boat capsizes off South Korea's Jeju Island

Two people are confirmed dead while 12 of their companions have gone missing after the fishing vessel on which they were working as crews capsized and sank off Jeju Island in South Korea on Friday, November 8, the country's Yonhap News Agency reports.

The Korea Coast Guard said that it first received an alert about the incident at around 04:34 local time on Friday shortly after the Busan-based fishing vessel Geumseong sank approximately 24 kilometres northwest of Jeju.

Coast guard officials said the vessel's crew at the time of the incident included 16 South Korean nationals and 11 foreign nationals. Among these crewmembers, only 15 individuals have so far been pulled out of the water.

The coast guard said that two South Korean crewmembers who were found unconscious at the scene were subsequently brought to hospital. Tragically, these two individuals were later pronounced deceased.

Some of the survivors recounted that they were transferring their catch to another vessel that had manoeuvred alongside when their own vessel began to capsize.

Geumseong is now completely submerged according to the most recent update from the coast guard.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been informed about the tragedy and has since ordered the coast guard and other partner agencies to continue the search for the 12 missing crewmembers.