A South Korean fishing boat sank in waters far south of the country's southern island of Jeju on Friday, leaving four dead and four missing, the Coast Guard and the foreign ministry said.

The 29-ton Hwanggeum 3005 carrying nine people -- two Chinese and seven South Koreans -- caught fire in waters 289 nautical miles off of Jeju's city of Seogwipo around 3:40 a.m., due to an unidentified cause, they said. The boat went down about three hours and 40 minutes later after being burned down.

One Chinese has been rescued, with four South Koreans confirmed dead, according to the authorities.

South Korea's Coast Guard are conducting search and rescue operations for the other four people in cooperation with the Japanese and Chinese authorities, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The nine-member boat, led by a 56-year-old captain surnamed Chang, departed from the Seogwipo port on Jan. 2, the authorities said. (Yonhap News)