**Summary:**
On the evening of the 9th, at around 9 PM, the body of a missing Korean crew member was found near the hull of the capsized Geumseongho vessel in the sea near Biyang-do, Jeju. This discovery was made two days after the incident, and the body was transferred to a local funeral home. Currently, 11 people remain missing from the incident, including 9 Koreans and 2 Indonesians.
According to the Jeju Coast Guard’s Regional Rescue Headquarters, they discovered the body of a 64-year-old Korean crew member, identified as A, at around 9 PM. During an underwater search using a remotely operated underwater robot from the Navy’s Gwangyang ship, A was found wearing waterproof workwear near the submerged hull 24 km northwest of Jeju’s Hallim.
The body retrieval operation was conducted from 10:01 PM to 11:18 PM on the 9th, lasting approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes. After confirming the identity, the body was taken to a funeral home in Jeju. Authorities are providing necessary guidance for the funeral proceedings to the bereaved family.
Following this, 11 individuals remain missing, including the captain, identified as B, aged 59. Currently, the authorities, including the Coast Guard and Navy, have deployed 47 vessels and 5 aircraft to continue the search operations, using flares for night searches. A Coast Guard official offered condolences to the families of the missing crew and emphasized their commitment to utilizing all available resources to locate the missing.
The incident was reported to the Coast Guard at approximately 4:31 AM on the 8th when the 129-ton purse seine fishing vessel Geumseongho, registered in Busan, was sinking northwestern off Biyang-do, Jeju. Out of 27 crew members (16 Koreans, 11 Indonesians), 15 were rescued by nearby vessels, but 2 Koreans were found deceased. The remaining 12 crew members (10 Koreans, 2 Indonesians) are still reported missing.
At the time of the accident, two individuals, including the cook and the head fisherman, were inside the vessel, while most others were on the deck handling the catch. The hull of the Geumseongho completely sank, and the water depth at the site is identified to be 87 meters.