The Foreign Ministry instructed the Embassy of Vietnam in Indonesia to work with Indonesian authorities to help the 25 Vietnamese fishermen arrested for fishing in the country’s seas, the Ministry’s Consular Department told reporters on March 8.

The Hongkyeong 202 boat goes up side down. Source: Yonhap News.

Nine were on the BV 3240 TS fishing vessel and the other 16 were on the BV 99253 TS.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia has made efforts to protect the Vietnamese fishermen.

Among the six Vietnamese crewmen who went missing on February 28 after their Korean-flagged fishing boat named Dongkyeong 201 capsized in Japanese waters, the body of one sailor has been found so far, according to the Embassy of Vietnam in the RoK.

The embassy is working closely with RoK authorities on the search for the other five crewmen.

The Consular Department is also working with relevant bodies on measures to support the relatives of the six sailors.

The 29-tonne Dongkyeong 201 lost communication with the city’s fisheries information control centre at 9:30 p.m. on February 29 (local time) after departing from Chuksan Port, Yoengdeok district in Kyeongbuk province at 2 p.m. the day before. A Korean captain, 47, and six Vietnamese crewmen were on board.

The fishing vessel was found to be capsized in Japanese waters at noon on March 3.

The Vietnamese sailors were sent to the RoK by Vietnam’s International Manpower Supply and Trade JSC, and the Tourist, Trade and Labour Export JSC, according to notification given by Pohang’s coast guards to the management board for Vietnamese workers in the RoK on March 2.

VNA