A South Korean chemical tanker has capsized off Japan's west coast, leaving one South Korean dead and another missing, officials said.

Eight of the 11 crew members on board the Keoyoung Sun vessel died after it capsized in waters near an island off the city of Shimonoseki in the Yamaguchi Prefecture on Wednesday, Seoul's foreign ministry and Japanese news outlets said, citing Japan's coast guard officials.

The crew members included two South Koreans, including the captain, as well as eight Indonesians and one Chinese.

The vessel made a distress call to the Japanese Coast Guard at around 7 a.m., reporting it was tilting before capsizing at around 8 a.m.

Nine members were initially rescued and transported to a hospital, but eight of them died, including one South Korean. The crew member confirmed alive is from Indonesia and reportedly in stable condition.

The coast guard is still conducting rescue operations to search for the two missing, including one South Korean.

The tanker, carrying 980 tons of acrylic acid, apparently departed from the Japanese port of Himeji on Monday and was en route to South Korea's southeastern port of Ulsan but was anchoring near Mutsure Island due to high waves and strong winds.

No leak of chemicals has been detected.

South Korea's foreign ministry on Wednesday said it has set up a task force to check for progress in the search and rescue operations in the area. (Yonhap)