authorities said. The passenger vessel was travelling from Jeju island to the port city of Mokpo when it ran aground after 8 pm (1100 GMT), the Coast Guard said. "So far, there have been no reports of casualties," said a Coast Guard statement, which did not detail the cause. Operations were underway to rescue the 246 passengers and 21 crew on board.

A photo released by Yonhap news agency shows the bow of the ferry pressed up against the island's tree-covered slope. Another image shows passengers waiting to be rescued, many of them wearing what appear to be life vests. President Lee Jae Myung ordered "swift rescue efforts" and instructed officials to provide real-time updates to the public, his office said. In 2014, a ferry carrying more than 470 passengers -- mostly pupils on a school trip -- capsized off the southwestern coast, killing 304 people in South Korea's worst maritime disaster. The salvaged wreck of the Sewol ferry was brought to Mokpo nearly three years later. (Bssnews)