Ministry For Public Safety And Security News

China said on Wednesday South Korea's coast guard should not have been operating in part of the sea where one of Seoul's patrol boats sank last week during an operation to crack down on a group of Chinese fishing boats. South Korean coast guard vessels regularly chase Chinese boats for fishing illegally off its coast, at times resulting in violent confrontations. The disputes are an irritant in relations between China and U.S. ally South Korea, even as their economic relations grow close and they share concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programmes. South Korea's Ministry of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the coast guard, said one of its patrol boats sank last week during an anti-illegal fishing operation off the Korean peninsula's west coast.

Typhoon Chaba battered southern parts of South Korea with violent wind and heavy rain on Wednesday, killing at least three people and flooding the country's main port and industrial sites and disrupting production at some factories. The storm hit the island of Jeju overnight and one person was reported missing amid widespread power outages and damage to homes and other buildings. Twenty-six flights linking the holiday island to the mainland and to China were cancelled. The port in the city of Busan was shut for a second day as Chaba whirled past and headed east towards Japan. An official at the country's biggest port said it was expected to reopen later in the day.

Six government officials from South Korea are visiting the Danish Maritime Authority and, in this connection, they exchange experiences and knowledge about shipping, inspections and safety with the Danish authorities. The South Korean government officials are, inter alia, responsible for passenger ship safety in South Korea and are visiting Europe for other reasons as well. "This is a good example of how we exchange knowledge and experience with other countries. This dialogue is an important part of our endeavours to enhance safety, not only on board Danish ships, but on board ships all over the world,"" says Deputy Director General Troels Blicher Danielsen from the Danish Maritime Authority.

South Korean maritime police on Wednesday withdrew divers after they failed to find at least five people believed to be trapped inside a Chinese fishing boat that capsized near a small southwestern island off South Korea on Wednesday, reports AP. Four people were rescued by nearby Chinese fishing boats, but another man pulled by South Korean divers was feared to be dead, according to an official from the Ministry of Public Safety and Security. The boat keeled over while being towed by another Chinese fishing boat after developing engine problems, a spokeswoman of the Mokpo Coastguard said. The accident occurred early today, some 85 kilometres (52 miles) northwest of Gageo Island in Shinan County.

South Korea said on Wednesday it will raise the Sewol ferry that sank a year ago, killing more than 300 people, most of them children, yielding to pressure from mourning families who have called for a deeper investigation into the disaster. The Sewol, which was structurally unsound, overloaded and travelling too fast on a turn, capsized and sank during a routine voyage and lies 44 metres (144 feet) deep off the southwestern island of Jindo. Of those killed, 250 were teenagers on a school trip, many of whom obeyed crew instructions to remain in their cabins even as crew members were seen on TV escaping the sinking vessel. A government committee concluded that it would be possible to raise the 6,800-tonne vessel at a cost of 150 billion won ($139 million), the government said in a statement.

South Korea has approved plans to salvage a sunken ferry that capsized last year in the Yellow Sea killing over 300 people, Public Safety and Security Minister Park In-yong said. Last April's disaster happened off the southern coast of Jindo, South Jeolla Province. Nine people are still missing. The ferry was carrying 476 passengers at the time of sinking. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Wednesday the operation would use crane vessels and a floating dock to raise the ship. In-yong said on Wednesday (Apr 22) that the decision to raise the ferry was made as the government still hopes to recover the nine missing as they are believed to be inside the ship.

The MV Sewol, the capsized South Korean ferry that killed 304 passengers, could be raised, the country's Choson Ilbo newspaper reported yesterday. A 23-member task force of civilian experts and government officials concluded that raising the intact hull of the ferry is possible. The scenario proposed by task force members involves drilling approximately 100 lifting holes on the starboard side of the ship. The hull would then be connected by chains to two floating cranes weighing between 10,000 and 8,000 tons and moved to shallow waters.