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Three men dead after fatal dive for abalone

April 14, 2015
Oh Tae-won

One of the deceased was reported as Oh Tae-won.

By The Korea Times San Francisco staff

A craving for abalone, sea snails considered a delicacy to lovers of Korean cuisine, left three Korean men dead off the coast of Mendocino County, Calif., Sunday after a fatal dive.

According to local authorities, the men — two of three identified so far: Oh Tae-won, 49, and Shin Hyun-suk, 49, and an unnamed 53-year-old — were visiting Caspar Beach and had rented a vacation home with a group of 10 friends.

Five of them went out to collect abalone in rocky waters around 2:30 p.m.

Violent waves in a narrow channel overtook them; by the time a fisherman saw the divers in trouble and called authorities, only two were able to be rescued.

Authorities found two bodies floating in the water. The third was found four hours later in a cove.

SFGate reported Oh as the co-owner of Dublin, Calif., sushi restaurant Amakara, Shin as a resident of Suwanee, Ga., and the unidentified man as a Fort Lee, N.J., resident.