Seven South Korean coastal routes average less than one ferry sailing a day

Yonhap News reported on 10 October 2026 that seven of South Korea's 99 coastal passenger routes averaged less than one sailing a day in 2025. The figures come from a ministry document, "current status of 99 coastal passenger routes", which the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries gave to Shin Jang-sik, a Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.

The lowest figure is the state-supported Tongyeong–Samcheonpo route, at a daily average of 0.3 sailings, or 2.1 a week. Ulleung (Sadong)–Dokdo and Dangpo–Gukdo each averaged 0.4 a day. Deokjeok–Incheon averaged 0.8. Gangneung–Ulleung, Mukho–Ulleung and the irregular Ulleung–Dokdo service each averaged 0.9.

Yonhap said five of the seven routes have no alternative if they stop: Tongyeong–Samcheonpo (8 islands), Deokjeok–Incheon (6 islands), Gangneung–Ulleung and Mukho–Ulleung (3 islands each) and Dangpo–Gukdo (2 islands), 22 islands in all. Island-resident passengers on those five routes came to more than 20,000 a year. On Tongyeong–Samcheonpo, 56.1 percent of passengers were island residents, and on Deokjeok–Incheon, 50.9 percent.

From 2023 to 2025, 152 reductions of 10 days or more were recorded, and 78.3 percent of them, 119 cases, were for ship survey or repair. The ministry has two reserve government-funded passenger ships. Cancellation days on the routes in question reached 314 over the past two years. Yonhap's subheading says six of the seven routes are outside the public-operation scheme.

Shin said a ferry is public transport for island residents, not a tourism service, and that the government should see the risk of a route being cut and have a way to convert a route to public operation when that is needed.