2 Koreans confirmed dead after chemical tanker capsizes off western Japan

Keoyoung Sun, a Korean-flagged chemical tanker, is capsized off the coast of Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan, March 20. Reuters-Yonhap

Two Koreans have died after a Korean chemical tanker capsized off Japan's west coast earlier this week, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Eleven crew members were on board the Keoyoung Sun vessel when it capsized in waters near an island off the city of Shimonoseki in the Yamaguchi Prefecture on Wednesday. The crew members included two Koreans, including the captain, as well as eight Indonesians and one Chinese.

Earlier, the Japanese Coast Guard said nine members were initially rescued and transported to a hospital but eight of them died, including one Korean.

The coast guard had been conducting rescue operations to search for the two missing members, which included one Korean.

On Thursday, an official from Seoul's foreign ministry confirmed the death of the missing Korean.

"The ministry, along with our diplomatic mission there, the Korea Coast Guard and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, has been in communication with the families (of the victims) since the incident," he said.

The ministry will respect the wishes of the bereaved families and provide the necessary support for repatriating the bodies back home or carrying out the funeral procedures in Japan, he added.

Japan's Kyodo news agency, citing Japan's coast guard officials, also reported that one of the two missing crew members was found Thursday, though it said details of the member's condition remain unknown.

The crew member confirmed alive is from Indonesia and reportedly in stable condition.

The tanker, carrying 980 tons of acrylic acid, apparently departed from the Japanese port of Himeji on Monday and was en route to Korea's southeastern port of Ulsan but was anchoring near Mutsure Island due to high waves and strong winds.

The vessel made a distress call to the Japanese Coast Guard at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, reporting it was tilting before capsizing at around 8 a.m.

No leak of chemicals has been detected.

Korea's foreign ministry on Wednesday said it set up a task force to check for progress in the search and rescue operations in the area. (Yonhap)