(LEAD) 3 remain missing in Hungary boat sinking after another body confirmed to be S. Korean

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead and paras 2-3 with updates on body identification)

BUDAPEST/SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- A body found in a river south of Budapest was confirmed to be a South Korean missing from last month's deadly sinking of a tour boat that left 26 Koreans dead or missing, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

That brought the total number of Koreans killed in the May 29 sinking to 23, and the number of those missing to three. The latest victim in his 60s was discovered 110 kilometers downstream from the sinking site Wednesday (Budapest time).

The sightseeing boat carrying 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members sank after it collided with a larger Swiss cruise ship on May 29. Seven other Korean passengers were rescued right after the accident.

Earlier this week, Hungarian authorities raised the Hableany from the waters and retrieved four bodies during the salvage operations, three of them South Koreans. But search operations inside the salvaged wreck have so far been unsuccessful, officials said.

Rescue workers found no bodies or anything else unusual when they went into the vessel on Wednesday, a day after it was raised and placed on a barge.

The Korean quick response team dispatched to the scene plans to send its people in to search the wreck from 9 a.m. Thursday (4 p.m. Korean time). Wednesday's search was done by the Hungarian authorities.

Hungary had rejected the Korean team's request to allow them to go inside the ship to continue the search for the missing, citing legal grounds and concern over the possibility of evidence being disturbed. They later agreed to a joint search.

elly@yna.co.kr
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