[News Now] Seven hours have passed since the sinking of a Jeju fishing boat...Rescuing the missing, what's the point?

■ Proceedings: Anchor Jung Ji-woong
■ Phone: Jin Chun-taek, former standing chairman of the Navy's Maritime Rescue Team

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN NewsNOW] when quoting.

[Anchor]
It's been about 7 hours since the accident. However, the additional structure is slow. I'm connecting Jin Chun-taek, former permanent chairman of the Navy's Maritime Rescue Team, to find out in detail. The chairman is here.

[Jin Chun-taek]
How are you?

[Anchor]
No additional missing persons have been found yet. What is the most urgent thing at this point?

[Jin Chun-taek]
It's been about eight hours since the accident. Rescuing lives will be the first priority. Next, lifting the ship is a matter of the future, and for now, I think we should make all-out efforts to save lives.

[Anchor]
I think it's been about 7 hours and 10 minutes since the accident. Is the area where the accident occurred such a frequent sinking?

[Jin Chun-taek]
Jeju Island is an area where accidents occur occasionally. It is a place where accidents often occur due to wind, flow velocity, and wave because it is very promising if you go out a little from Jeju Island.

[Anchor]
The Coast Guard speculates that the accident caused the overturn while transferring the catch to a carrier. If so, I think most of the sailors were on board. What do you think?

[Jin Chun-taek]
What I don't understand after encountering this accident is that I don't know why the accident occurred in the beginning. According to the Coast Guard, it is said that the catch was overturned while loading it on a carrier, but I don't understand. I think we should investigate whether there was an accident before the arrival of the carrier or while mooring with the carrier. In the event of an accident, the crew rarely wears life jackets when working.

[Anchor]
Don't you wear it?

[Jin Chun-taek]
Originally, the manual says you have to wear it, but there are many inconveniences in working, so most of them work without wearing a life jacket. If you put it on, there is no difficulty in rescuing the sailors when they fall into the sea. If you don't wear a vest, there are a lot of difficulties in rescuing. Because the accident happened around 4:33 a.m. today. It was dark and cold at that time, so when a person falls into the water, they can't find it soon, when they fall into the water. After that, there are birds and things like that, so it's difficult to rescue. Lastly, the third is that when I work in winter, the sea is cold, so I wear thick clothes. It is quite difficult to rescue when you fall into the sea because you wear thick clothes and then wear plastic pants on the outside. Because wearing thick clothes can lead to situations where you can't come out because you're not wearing a life jacket.

[Anchor]
I don't think various situations were good, but isn't the hull completely sunk now? What do you think is the likelihood that the missing people are on board?

[Jin Chun-taek]
The media reported that there were 27 people on board, but 25 people were unloading outside and 2 were in the cabin. If one or two people suddenly overturn their stomachs, they can't come out. Then the two of us are in the cabin. It depends on how the ship accident occurred and how long it sank, but it doesn't turn over quickly. It doesn't turn over. Then, one or two people may have detected the accident and left, and if it overturned in an instant, we cannot rule out the possibility that it could not have come out.

[Anchor]
Since you have a lot of experience, you can't rule out the possibility of surviving there because there is an air pocket inside the ship, right?

[Jin Chun-taek]
Usually, if a ship gradually capsizes, air pockets cannot occur. However, if the ship suddenly overturned, it could have had an air pocket installed in the ship. However, from the current situation, I don't think it would have been quick if the ship next to me had suddenly been unloading. Then, if you have done it slowly, the air pocket cannot be formed, and if the ship suddenly overturned, there is a very high possibility that there is an air pocket inside.

[Anchor]
I think the direction of the rescue work will also be important. Then, is it time to focus more on underwater search?

[Jin Chun-taek]
I think that's what I'm thinking right now.Ma must first search toward the water before underwater. As far as I know, many ships and helicopters are working on it. In the current situation, I know that today's weather will be below 1m, which is low in the depth of the underwater search, and the depth of the water is too deep. It seems that there will be no situation to search soon because it is deep, but it is not on the scene. First of all, we need to search underwater at the same time. Since the rescue team is here, from the Coast Guard. I think it's a principle to do it in parallel.

[Anchor]
Let's listen to it up to here. We will send you the news about the sinking of the Jeju fishing boat. Until now, Jin Chun-taek was the former standing chairman of the Navy's Maritime Rescue Team. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Jin Chun-taek]
Thank you.