A South Korean ferry ran aground after the helmsman became distracted by his mobile phone, a member of the coast guard told AFP on Thursday.

All 267 passengers and crew were safely brought to a nearby port after the ferry crashed on an uninhabited island off of South Korea's southwestern coast.

The passenger vessel was travelling from Jeju Island to the port city of Mokpo when it ran aground after 8:00 pm (1100 GMT) on Wednesday, authorities said.

A preliminary investigation found that "the officer responsible for steering had been looking at his mobile phone and allowed autopilot to take control in an area where the ship should have been manually operated", a Korea Coast Guard official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"As a result, the vessel missed the proper moment to c

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