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Fishing Vessels with up to Two People on Board Must Wear Life Jackets from October 19

  • Date

    2025.10.29.

  • Hit

    435

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- Enforcement after a three-year grace period, with strong guidance and enforcement to ensure early establishment

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Chun Jae-soo) announced that fishing vessels with two or fewer people on board must wear life jackets at all times regardless of the weather alerts, according to the amendment of the Act on the Promotion of Safety and Health of Fishing Vessels and Fishermen to be enforced beginning October 19.

  Furthermore, the fishing vessel's captain must require all persons on board to wear life jackets or life vests.

  This amended law will be implemented after a three-year grace period. The Ministry plans to conduct joint guidance and crackdowns with the Coast Guard and local governments, focusing on ports where many small fishing boats with two or fewer people enter and exit. A person who fails to wear a life jacket will be slapped with a fine of up to KRW 3 million.

  “For small-scale fishing boats with one or two people, wearing life jackets is essential because their rescue response capabilities are low in the event of an accident such as a fall at sea. It is important to consider wearing life jackets to be a necessity, not an option, and we will push to make them mandatory for all fishing boats with three or more people on board in the future,” Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Chun Jae-soo said.
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