SEOUL - Three people were found dead and eight others were missing after a fishing boat capsized off the south coast of the country, police said on Sunday morning.

The 9.77-ton boat Dolphin was found at around 6:25 a.m. near Chuja Island, north of the resort island of Jeju, the country's Yonhap News Agency reported citing the police.

Three people have been confirmed dead in the incident, three have been rescued and flown by helicopter to a hospital in Jeju, while eight others remain unaccounted for. The exact passenger list has also yet to be determined.

Search efforts have been under way since Saturday evening since the boat lost contact around 7:38 p.m., about half an hour after it left Chuja for Haenam, South Jeolla Province. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries set up a control center at its headquarters in Sejong to oversee the rescue operations.