SEOUL >> Police say that dozens of Chinese tourists visiting a southern South Korean resort island have deserted their group, possibly to stay in the country illegally.

Police say that 1,300 Chinese tourists visited the Jeju Island on Sunday aboard a ferry for a trip of several hours. But 44 tourists failed to return to the ferry after touring the island.

Police say they have caught 11 of them but the rest remained missing on Monday.

Police officer Ko Sun-chang says he believes that the Chinese were attempting to illegally move to mainland South Korea to get a job.

Chinese don’t need a visa to visit the island.

There are about 170,000 illegal foreign workers in South Korea and more than 40 percent of them are from China.