Diver's Find Off Yangyang May Be a Lost Korean War Corsair

Wreckage lying off Yangyang on Korea's east coast may belong to a US Navy F4U Corsair that disappeared during the Korean War, more than 70 years ago. The aircraft was found not by a survey vessel but by a scuba diver, Kim Kyung-soo, 44.

A current, a long shape, a propeller

Kim first came across the object on July 25, 2024, during a training dive. The planned depth was 45 metres, but a current pushed him down to about 52 metres, where he saw a long, cylindrical shape. At the time he could not pin down its exact location or what it was.

The decisive clue came in May 2025, when he found a propeller and became convinced he was looking at an aircraft. Diving more than ten times at his own expense, he photographed and filmed the site. Although the tail had been torn away and the wreck was corroded and covered in barnacles, the distinctive bent wing shape pointed to a Corsair.

Kim passed the material to South Korea's Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification, and it was shared with the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Because of the depth, a DPAA team used underwater drones rather than divers and confirmed this year that wreckage is present. Team leader Spencer Jefferson said its shape and engine suggested it could be what they were looking for.

The missing aircraft

CNN, which reported the story on September 18 (US time), linked the site to a Corsair that went missing on February 21, 1952. It had launched from an Essex-class carrier to escort a damaged AD-4 Skyraider back to the ship and was caught in a snowstorm before going down at sea. Whether the Yangyang wreck is that aircraft still has to be confirmed.

According to CNN, Koreans nicknamed the Corsair ssaeksaegi for the sharp whistle it made cutting through the air, a name also applied to jet fighters such as the F-86 Sabre. In the Second World War, Japanese forces called it "whistling death", and the Corsair is credited with downing more than 2,100 Japanese aircraft, though its difficult handling and frequent crashes also earned it the nickname "widow maker" among US pilots.

Kim said that having found the wreck did not mean he and his team had to be the ones to investigate it; if the work belongs to the United States, the United States should do it. The airmen came to help Korea, he said, and he hopes the pilot's remains are found and returned home.

A note on depth

At 45 to 52 metres the site is beyond recreational scuba limits and inside technical diving territory, where narcosis, gas planning and decompression become serious concerns. Divers planning to go this deep should first complete technical diving training with a recognised agency and a qualified instructor. War graves also deserve respect: wrecks that may hold human remains should be left undisturbed and reported to the authorities.