Almost 9,000 troops, police and volunteers armed with shovels and buckets struggled to clean up the huge crude oil slick. Officials said it would deal a huge blow to tourism and oyster and abalone farms in the area.

The oil had hit 169 farms and 14 beaches as of Monday evening and was still spreading south, said officials in Taean county 110 kilometres (69 miles) southwest of Seoul.

Some 140 ships and five planes were helping the clean-up but the Coast Guard said the slick has already hit 50 kilometres of coastline.

Park Myung-Jae, home affairs minister, said four townships would be declared a disaster zone, making them eligible for extra compensation.

Park vowed immediate aid of 5.9 billion won (6.4 million dollars) and said more state funds would be forthcoming soon.

But fishermen at Uihangri village, where 150 farms are located, were in shock. "It is a complete disaster," said oyster farmer Lee Nam-Kyu, 64.

Northwest winds were quickly pushing the slick south along the coast, said Lee Jae-Hak, of the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute.

"Damage was bigger than expected because of wrong weather forecasts by the authorities," Lee told AFP, saying they failed fully to take seasonal winds into consideration after booms were set up.

Lee said it may take months or a year to remove oil from the land surface, "but it will take four or five years to remove chemicals and other pollutants."

About 10,500 tons of crude leaked into the Yellow Sea when a drifting barge carrying a construction crane smashed into an oil tanker Friday.

The barge's cable to a tugboat had snapped during rough weather before it holed the 147,000-ton Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit in three places.

Officials reported difficulties contacting the tug captain to warn him of the imminent danger.

The captain did not respond to a radio warning message about the tanker's presence in the area, said Song Hee-Sun, a regional maritime ministry official.

Officials then tried to call his mobile phone but when they finally got through, it may have been too late to prevent the collision, Song told AFP.

"He is under questioning by police. So we cannot say whether he is responsible or not," he added.

The leak from the tanker, which was anchored eight kilometres off the coast, was only completely stopped early Sunday. The oil spill is about twice the size of South Korea's previous worst such case in 1995.

The US Coastguard has offered help in the clean-up, the foreign ministry said. There was no information on whether the offer had been accepted.

Newspapers blasted what they called a slow response. "Precious time was lost in preparing seaside communities for the impending ecological disaster," a Korea Herald editorial said.

"Equipment to contain the oil spill was not distributed promptly, leaving villagers helpless as they watched the oil move ashore."

The JoongAng Ilbo said it suspects "authorities tackled the accident in a loafing and idle manner."

Shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries, which operated the barge and tug, said the tanker's owner would be able to receive a maximum 300 billion won (326 million dollars) through an insurer to cover damage from the spill.

Samsung was responsible for compensating the owner, a spokesman said.

"We are awaiting the outcome of an investigation by police. But we are basically responsible for the incident," the spokesman said. "We will not swerve from our duty."

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