Two people are confirmed dead while 12 others have been reported as missing after two Chinese fishing vessels capsized recently in separate incidents off the southwestern coast of South Korea.
The first incident occurred at around 06:50 local time on Sunday, November 9, when a 98-tonne Chinese fishing vessel capsized in international waters of the Yellow Sea some 80 kilometres off Gageo Island.
Six of the crew were rescued by a passing Chinese cargo ship while the China and Korea Coast Guards found two sailors suffering from cardiac arrest. Tragically, these two individuals were later pronounced deceased.
The vessel's three remaining crewmembers are still missing.
The second incident occurred at around 08:50 on Monday, November 10, when an unnamed 99-tonne vessel overturned while some 150 kilometres off Eocheong Island.
The Korea Coast Guard first learned of the incident upon receiving a distress call sent by the China Coast Guard.
Patrol vessels and helicopters were deployed to the area shortly afterwards to conduct search and rescue operations.
The crew of a Good Samaritan cargo vessel pulled two survivors out of the water while the Korea Coast Guard has continued combing the waters off Eocheong for any trace of the nine missing sailors.