Significant Decrease in Fatal Accidents in Jeju Coastal Waters in 2020

Coastal Safety Accidents Decrease by 34%, Fatal Accidents Down by 31%

Jeju Regional Coast Guard Headquarters

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] The Jeju Regional Coast Guard Agency (Chief Kim Seongjong) announced on the 16th that coastal water safety accidents in 2020 decreased by 34% compared to the average year, and fatal accidents decreased by 31%.

According to the Jeju Coast Guard Agency, with the recent growth of marine leisure businesses such as fishing and scuba diving, and the annual increase in marine leisure visitors, the number of coastal water activities in Jeju significantly increased this year due to COVID-19.

Along with the increasing trend of tourists and marine leisure visitors in Jeju Island, about 100 coastal safety accidents occurred annually on average, with approximately 21 fatalities. However, this year, safety accidents decreased to 72 cases, a 34% reduction compared to the average year, and fatalities decreased to 15, a 31% reduction.

The Jeju Regional Coast Guard Agency has shifted its policy paradigm to collaboration and prevention-centered approaches to reduce the increasing coastal fatalities, implementing various coastal safety management policies such as the free life jacket rental project for fishing visitors. In particular, it is analyzed that the significant decrease in coastal water safety accidents was due to the full support and organic cooperation of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

On the other hand, although it is assumed that accidents involving tourists and outsiders are frequent due to the characteristics of Jeju Island, related statistics show that accidents involving Jeju residents are more than twice as many as those involving outsiders.

The cause of these accidents is believed to be that, due to Jeju’s characteristics, easy access to the coastline and the sea being a playground, the lack of safety awareness stemming from childhood habits has continued, leading to the occurrence of coastal safety accidents.

A representative of the Jeju Regional Coast Guard Agency urged, “Safety accidents start from a momentary lapse of attention, and due to the nature of the sea, they directly lead to casualties. We ask everyone to make practicing safety rules a daily habit, and especially Jeju residents, who are well aware of the characteristics of the waters, should not overlook that they are not exempt from safety accidents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.