Actress riding leisure boat rescued near NLL: Coast Guard

INCHEON, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- An actress and three others riding a leisure boat were rescued near the maritime boundary separating South and North Korea, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

Authorities said the 3-ton boat carrying the four-person crew drifted near the
Northern Limit Line (NLL), close to Yeonpyeon Island in the Yellow Sea.

Officers said that the crew decided to send an emergency distress message after
getting lost in the fog. The boat was intercepted by the Navy.

The 28-year-old actress, who was not identified, and the others onboard the boat
were questioned by police, who said they did not find any reason to think that
they tried to cross over to North Korea.

The boat had left a beach in Incheon before noon and stopped at a nearby island,
where the passengers had lunch.

"Although they did not try to cross the NLL, the crew failed to report their
departure, even though they sailed beyond the 5-mile limit, for which they will
incur a fine," an Incheon Coast Guard official said.

The area where the boat was found is located northwest of Incheon and south of
Haeju port in North Korea, where two bloody naval clashes occurred in 1999 and
2002.

In the 1999 incident, one North Korean gun boat sank and another was seriously
damaged, incurring significant loss of life. In the second incident, which took
place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Seoul and Tokyo, a South Korean
patrol boat was sunk, killing six sailors.