Two people are dead and 12 others are missing after a fishing boat sank in waters off Jeju Island on Friday morning. 

The Jeju branch of the Korea Coast Guard said it received a distress call around 4:46 a.m. on Friday, indicating that a 129-ton vessel Geumseong was sinking 24 kilometers northwest of Jeju’s Biyang Island.

The boat was reportedly carrying 27 crew members — 16 South Koreans and eleven Indonesians — 15 of whom were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital. 

But two of the 15, both South Koreans, were found unconscious and later pronounced dead. 

The Coast Guard is conducting a search for the 12 missing people. 

President Yoon Suk Yeol has instructed related ministries to mobilize all available resources for the rescue mission.