A South Korean passenger ferry carrying 267 passengers and crew ran aground on Wednesday off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula, triggering a rescue operation and stirring memories of a major ferry disaster in 2014.

President Lee Jae Myung, who is currently travelling in the Middle East, ordered a swift rescue of all on board to prevent casualties and for details of the operation to be made public as they occur, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Authorities were deploying all possible resources in the rescue operation, the coast guard said in a statement.

It said it believed there were no casualties so far from the incident and the boat was not taking on water.

RESCUE BOATS DEPLOYED

The 26,000-tonne ferry, the Queen Jenuvia 2, was travelling from Jeju Island to Mokpo, according to the coast guard. The boat's Mokpo-based operator, Seaworld Ferry, lists the vessel as having a capacity of 1,010 passengers, as well as multiple lower decks for large vehicles and passenger cars.

A coast guard official said the ferry had struck a rocky island near Jindo.

Video footage showed passengers wearing life vests awaiting transfer to rescue boats, which were approaching the ferry.

The vessel's bow appeared stuck on the edge of a small island, but it appeared to be upright and the passengers appeared calm.

Weather conditions at the scene were reported to be fair with light winds.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has ordered all available vessels and equipment to be mobilised to rescue passengers, his office said.

PREVIOUS SINKING WAS ONE OF COUNTRY'S WORST DISASTERS

Memories are still fresh in South Korea of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014, one of the country's worst disasters in which more than 300 people died, mostly school children heading for a school trip to Jeju.

The Sewol was sailing from the west coast port of Incheon when it sank near the site of Wednesday's incident, though further off the island of Jindo.

The ferry, which was later found to have been overloaded with cargo and illegally modified to carry more than designed, went into a turn too fast and began listing.

It then lay on its side as passengers awaited rescue, which was slow to come, before sinking as the country watched on live television.

Many of the victims were found in their cabins, where they had been told to wait by crew while the captain and some crew members were taken aboard the first coast guard vessels to arrive at the scene.