Six islanders in Gunsan hospitalized after eating pufferfish
Published: 14 Jan. 2026, 13:47
Updated: 14 Jan. 2026, 16:35
![Captured pufferfish are seen at Jumunjin Port in Gangneung, Gangwon, in this file photo filed on Nov. 29, 2017. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/14/ecd46404-8108-4b61-9c47-4abad0d0d932.jpg)
Captured pufferfish are seen at Jumunjin Port in Gangneung, Gangwon, in this file photo filed on Nov. 29, 2017. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Residents on a small island off the coast of Gunsan, North Jeolla, were hospitalized late Tuesday after suffering poisoning symptoms from pufferfish they had cooked and eaten themselves, local authorities said Wednesday.
The Jeonbuk Fire Service and the Gunsan Coast Guard said they received a report at about 8:33 p.m. Tuesday that six residents at a lodge in Okdo-myeon, Gunsan, were experiencing numbness and dizziness after eating the pufferfish.
Fire authorities, dispatched at the Coast Guard's request, transported the patients, including a man in his 70s, to nearby hospitals.
Officials said the patients showed symptoms such as numbness at the tip of the tongue, but none were in critical condition.
Authorities found that no one with a license to prepare pufferfish was present at the scene. The older island residents had caught the fish themselves in 2023 and stored it frozen before preparing dishes, including fried pufferfish, officials said.
“The incident appears to have occurred because they handled and ate frozen pufferfish without properly removing the toxins,” a police official said, adding that police are investigating the exact circumstances of the case.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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