33 Chinese Tourists Missing on Jeju Island
By wchung | 20 Jun, 2026

A large group of Chinese tourists who arrived in Jeju Island on a luxury cruise from Shanghai has disappeared with their belongings.

The Italian cruise ship Costa Classica arrived at Jeju harbor Sunday morning. Following a sightseeing tour of the island 30 men and 14 women failed to return to the ship, reported the Jeju office of the Korea Immigration Service Monday.

Later that day 11 of the missing tourists were found in two hotels on the island and sent to the immigration office. The remaining 33 have not yet been located.

“They were apparently trying to find jobs in Korea as they took all of their belongings from the ship except for their passports,” a Korean immigration official said. “We will deport the others as soon as we find them.”

The Costa Classica arrived in Jeju from Shanghai at 7 a.m. Sunday with 1,311 passengers and departed for the return voyage at 3 p.m. that day. Italian operator Costa Cruise has run the cruise connecting China, Jeju and Japan 21 times since April.