Latest news with #KoreaCoastGuard
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
India, South Korea hold 13th high-level Coast Guard meeting in Delhi
The 13th high-level meeting between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Korea Coast Guard took place in New Delhi on Monday (July 21, 2025). The meeting was led by S. Paramesh, Director General, ICG, and Kim Yong Jin, Commissioner General of the Korea Coast Guard, on an official visit to India from July 20-24 as the head of a five-member delegation. During the meeting, discussions were held on strengthening operational cooperation in key areas, including maritime search and rescue, pollution response, and maritime law enforcement. Both sides reiterated the importance of sharing best practices, enhancing interoperability, and sustaining regular personnel exchanges under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two agencies in 2006. The KCG delegation will also travel to Mumbai from July 23-24, where they are scheduled to undertake an industrial visit to Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, and ICG patrol vessels, further reinforcing maritime, industrial, and operational linkages. The meeting provided fresh momentum to the enduring and professional relationship between the two Coast Guards, and reaffirmed their joint commitment to promoting maritime safety, security, and environmental protection in the region, the ICG said. Earlier in the day, the Korea Coast Guard Commissioner called on Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The meeting included a discussion on enhancing India-South Korea Coast Guard cooperation, with a focus on search and rescue, and maritime pollution response, the Union Ministry of Defence posted on social media platform X.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Drug-sniffing dogs help find record haul of cocaine hidden on ship
South Korea discovered and seized two tons of cocaine hidden aboard a Norwegian-flagged vessel, authorities told AFP on Friday, marking the country's largest drug bust to date. The Korea Coast Guard said they had found two tons of what they suspect to be pure cocaine on a Norwegian-flagged ship which had departed from Mexico and made stops in Ecuador, Panama and China. The operation was launched after South Korean authorities received intelligence from U.S. agencies -- the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) -- that the vessel was carrying hidden narcotics. The Korea Coast Guard and Korea Customs Service coordinated a large-scale search operation "consisting of a joint search team of 90 officers... along with two drug-sniffing dog units," the Korea Coast Guard said. After the vessel docked at an east coast port in South Korea, the team immediately boarded the vessel and "discovered a hidden compartment behind the ship's engine room." The drugs were packed in 56 sacks, each holding some 30 to 40 kilograms (about 66 to 88 pounds) of the drug, authorities said, bringing the total haul to around two tons. "Preliminary field tests confirmed the substances as suspected cocaine," the Korea Coast Guard official told AFP. "The seizure is the largest in history, about five times bigger than the previous record which was 404 kilograms of methamphetamine," a Korea Customs Service official told AFP. The estimated street value is $697 million, they added. Authorities have launched a joint investigation team to question the vessel's captain and crew about the origin and intended destination of the drugs, and the route used to transport them. Investigators also said they are looking into potential ties to international drug trafficking syndicates and will expand cooperation with the FBI and HSI. South Korea has long ranked among the countries with low drug use globally, thanks to its strict laws and strong social stigma. The operation follows other major cocaine seizures on ships -- and in the open seas -- around the globe this year. Just last week, Portugese police said officers recently confiscated nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible vessel, or so-called "narco sub," intercepted off the Azores while bound for the Iberian peninsula. In February, divers in Poland discovered more than 220 pounds of cocaine on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. That same month, a semi-submersible vessel loaded with over 5,000 pounds of cocaine was intercepted off the Pacific coast of Colombia. Kentucky whiskey producers react to Trump tariffs Whisky Island | 60 Minutes Archive Israeli forces expand ground operations in Gaza
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
South Korea seize two tons of cocaine in largest-ever drug bust
South Korea discovered and seized two tons of cocaine hidden aboard a Norwegian-flagged vessel, authorities told AFP on Friday, marking the country's largest drug bust to date. The Korea Coast Guard said they had found "two tons" of what they suspect to be pure cocaine on a Norwegian-flagged vessel which had departed from Mexico and made stops in Ecuador, Panama, and China. The operation was launched after South Korean authorities received intelligence from US agencies -- the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) -- that the vessel was carrying hidden narcotics. The Korea Coast Guard and Korea Customs Service coordinated a large-scale search operation "consisting of a joint search team of 90 officers... along with two drug-sniffing dog units," the Korea Coast Guard said. After the vessel docked at an east coast port in South Korea, the team immediately boarded the vessel and "discovered a hidden compartment behind the ship's engine room". The drugs were packed in 56 sacks, each holding some 30 to 40 kilograms (about 66 to 88 pounds) of the drug, authorities said, bringing the total haul to around two tons. "Preliminary field tests confirmed the substances as suspected cocaine," the Korea Coast Guard official told AFP. "The seizure is the largest in history, about five times bigger than the previous record which was 404 kilograms of methamphetamine," a Korea Customs Service official told AFP. The estimated street value is one trillion won ($697 million), they added. Authorities have launched a joint investigation team to question the vessel's captain and crew about the origin and intended destination of the drugs, and the route used to transport them. Investigators also said they are looking into potential ties to international drug trafficking syndicates and will expand cooperation with the FBI and HSI. South Korea has long ranked among the countries with low drug use globally, thanks to its strict laws and strong social stigma. hs/ceb/dhc
Korea Herald
12-02-2025
- Korea Herald
81% of those who died or went missing in sea accidents did not wear life jackets: data
Government data showed Wednesday that 81 percent of the 231 people who died or went missing in maritime accidents from 2019 to 2023 were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. Most of the accidents (192) occurred on fishing boats, and in 81.8 percent of those cases victims were not wearing life jackets, according to data provided by the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority. Among the 50 deaths or disappearances resulting from falls off fishing boats, 48 victims were not wearing life jackets. "Particularly in the case of fishing boats operating in coastal waters, (sailors) tend to not wear life jackets since it hinders their movement," the KOMSA said, advising sailors to wear them at all times. South Korean law mandates that personnel on fishing boats wear life jackets on deck only if weather warnings have been issued. In 2024, the country revised the law to mandate wearing life jackets at all times if a fishing boat has only one or two people on board. Other data released by the Korea Coast Guard in 2024 showed that of the 1,008 people involved in accidents in coastal areas, including people engaged in fishing and other water-based leisure activities, only 139 were wearing life jackets. Of the 120 who died or went missing, 110 were not wearing life jackets.
