8 Confirmed Dead in Ship Sinking off Japan and South Korea

In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
TT

8 Confirmed Dead in Ship Sinking off Japan and South Korea

In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)
In this photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard, a South Korea coast guard vessel conducts a search operation in waters between South Korea and Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Korea Coast Guard via AP)

A Chinese official said Thursday that eight people have died in the sinking of a cargo ship in waters between Japan and South Korea.

Lyu Guijun, the consul general in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka, told state broadcaster CGTN that six of the eight victims were Chinese, The Associated Press said.

There were 22 crew members — 14 from China and eight from Myanmar — on the 6,551-ton Jin Tian. It sank early Wednesday about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Nagasaki, Japan.

Five of the crew have been rescued, including four Chinese, Lyu said. Another eight or nine remain missing, according to varying reports.

Maritime transport websites said the vessel left Malaysia’s Port Klang on Dec. 3 and was headed for South Korea’s Incheon port. The Hong Kong-registered ship was carrying lumber.



Lawyer: South Korea's Yoon to Accept Court Decision Even if it Ends Presidency

Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
TT

Lawyer: South Korea's Yoon to Accept Court Decision Even if it Ends Presidency

Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is trying parliament's impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office, his lawyer said on Thursday.
"So if the decision is 'removal', it cannot but be accepted," Yoon Kab-keun, the lawyer for Yoon, told a news conference, when asked if Yoon would accept whatever the outcome of trial was.
Yoon has earlier defied the court's requests to submit legal briefs before the court began its hearing on Dec. 27, but his lawyers have said he was willing to appear in person to argue his case.
The suspended president has defied repeated summons in a separate criminal investigation into allegations he masterminded insurrection with his Dec. 3 martial law bid.
Yoon, the lawyer, said the president is currently at his official residence and appeared healthy, amid speculation over the suspended leader's whereabouts.
Presidential security guards resisted an initial effort to arrest Yoon last week though he faces another attempt after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the embattled leader.
Seok Dong-hyeon, another lawyer advising Yoon, said Yoon viewed the attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him by bringing him out in public wearing handcuffs.