The Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea is taking citizen protection measures after five Vietnamese sailors went missing in a fishing boat fire off the RoK’s Jeju island early March 4.

Right after being informed of the incident, the embassy contacted the coast guard in Seogwipo region to get further information.

According to the force, a fire broke out on the 29-tonne ship at around 3:18 am (local time) in waters about 70 km southeast of Udo Island near Jeju. Of the eight crew members on board, two Koreans have been rescued so far while the six others (five Vietnamese and one Korean) are unaccounted for.

The embassy also worked with the agency which sent the sailors to the RoK to update it on the situation and inform victims’ families.

On the same day, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the embassy to continue keeping a close watch on the case and coordinate closely with relevant agencies to speed up the search for the missing and conduct necessary citizen protection measures.

To get support in emergency circumstances, Vietnamese citizens can call the embassy’s citizen protection hotline at +82 106 315 6618 or Vietnam's citizen protection call centre at +84 981 84 84 84.

The RoK authorities are carrying out search and rescue work along with investigations into the cause of the fire.