Korea on Thursday unveiled a plan to build six new marina yacht harbors as part of efforts to promote leisure and tourism.

The move comes as the number of yachts and boats for personal pleasure jumped more than 42 times from 205 in 2006 to 8,560 at the end of 2012, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.

However, there are only 20 marina harbors in the country with a total capacity for 1,542 ships, which covers just about 18 percent of the nation’s personal yachts.

“In addition, most of the marinas are serving as simple moorings with no marina harbor offering services that meet international standards,” the ministry said in a press release.

“They are also showing limits in engaging in exchanges with marina harbors in neighboring countries, such as China and Japan.” (Yonhap News)