The Korea Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (KFFC) has begun a two-week campaign aimed at increasing public awareness on maritime accidents involving local fishing vessels as well as how such accidents can be prevented.
The initiative comes in the wake of a series of accidents wherein fishing vessels were lost at sea along with a number of crews.
KFFC Chairman Roh Moo-jin has led his group in calling for measures such as mandatory wearing of lifejackets and safety inspections to be conducted more thoroughly before vessels head out to sea.
The two-week campaign will include visits at more than 20 ports throughout the country to enable the committee to share information with as many fishers and other stakeholders as possible.
Fishing vessel accidents have become common in South Korea over the last five years with nearly 10,000 recorded instances and 305 deaths.
The accidents over the last five years have been blamed on safety and regulatory lapses, in particular the inadequate training of crews, poorly conducted safety inspections, and failure to use safety equipment such as lifejackets.
In this week alone, two fishing vessel accidents occurred in South Korean waters.
On Sunday, February 9, a trawler capsized in the East China Sea off the city of Yeosu. Of this vessel's 14-strong crew, five are confirmed dead while five others are still missing.
Yesterday, another vessel suffered an onboard fire while some four kilometres east of Hawangdeung Island in North Jeolla province. Five of the boat's crew were safely rescued while the remaining six are unaccounted for.