Foreign sailors jump from moving ship in attempt for illegal entry

By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-soo

Two Vietnamese sailors jumped into the sea from a fishing vessel off Busan in what is considered an attempt to enter South Korea illegally, police said Sunday.

Police are searching for the sailors. Some investigators believe they have reached the Busan coast and holed up, while others say the escape failed.

The sailors’ absence was reported at 5:20 a.m. Sunday. They were among 42 foreign sailors -- 11 Vietnamese, 18 Filipinos and 13 Indonesians -- on the 1,402-ton deep-sea fishing vessel that was passing close to a small island off Busan.

Many foreign sailors have vanished from their on-land dormitories or worksites to overstay their visas, but jumping from a moving ship is rare.