The remains of a South Korean deep-sea fisherman who died in an accident while sailing the global seas aboard a deep-sea fishing vessel in the 1980s and was buried in Senegal, Africa, are returning to his homeland after 37 years.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced today (August 10) that a memorial service for the repatriation of the remains of one South Korean deep-sea fisherman, previously enshrined in the Dakar cemetery in Senegal, will be held on August 11 at the Korea Deep Sea Fisheries Association to relocate them to South Korea.

To honor deep-sea fishermen who died overseas, the ministry has been managing 272 graves across seven countries, including Samoa, Las Palmas in Spain, and Senegal, with the help of local Korean associations through the Overseas Seafarers' Cemetery Maintenance Project launched in 2002.

Since 2014, when bereaved families express a wish to relocate remains to South Korea, the ministry has been pursuing repatriation by negotiating with local governments.

According to the ministry, including the remains returning this time, a total of 40 sets of remains of deep-sea fishermen have been relocated to South Korea so far.

Bereaved families wishing to relocate the remains of deep-sea fishermen from overseas to South Korea can contact the Korea Deep Sea Fisheries Association.

Yang Young-jin, Director General for Fisheries Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "We will continue to do our utmost so that deep-sea fishermen buried in distant foreign lands can return to the arms of their families as soon as possible."

(Photo provided by Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Yonhap News)