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(2nd LD) Seven N. Koreans want to return home after drifting in Yellow Sea: source
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- Seven North Koreans expressed their desire to return home after they were found drifting south of the Yellow Sea border, a government source here said Tuesday.
The North Koreans were detected by South Korean Coast Guard officers Monday afternoon and have since been under investigation by intelligence and police authorities. | | Authorities investigate boat used by N. Korean defectors |
"Roughly speaking, they appear to want it (repatriation)," the official, who is well-versed in North Korea-related intelligence, said on condition of anonymity because questioning is still under way.
But the Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs could not yet confirm whether the North Koreans wanted to return home or intended to settle in the South.
When the joint investigation by the National Intelligence Service and the Coast Guard is done, and if the North Koreans want to return, the ministry will send a message to North Korea to arrange their repatriation, spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.
"We have yet to receive any information about the results of the joint investigation," Lee said.
Another source said the North Koreans were fishermen who apparently went drifting on a 1.5-ton boat when waves were as high as 3 meters.
In September, a group of 11 North Koreans, consisting of two family units, defected to South Korea after crossing the maritime border in the East Sea on a small fishing boat.
In a separate case, a North Korean soldier who was found drifting on a small boat in the Yellow Sea late last month was repatriated after he expressed his desire to return home.
Most North Korean defectors take overland routes that pass through China or a third country to reach South Korea. Maritime defections are rare.
The Koreas exchanged gunfire along the Yellow Sea border in 1999, 2002 and last month, with North Korea rejecting the line unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War.
North Korea warned Monday that it was setting a "firing zone" along the contested border region to protect its territorial waters.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
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