ID :
82678
Fri, 10/02/2009 - 15:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/82678
The shortlink copeid
11 N. Korean asylum seekers arrive in S. Korea by boat
(ATTN: CHANGES lead; ADDS more info)
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap)-- A group of 11 North Korean asylum seekers arrived in
South Korea by wooden boat through waters off the South's east coast Thursday,
marking the first case of a mass defection of North Koreans by sea in seven
years.
The group was comprised of nine adults and two children, while nine of the 11 are
a family unit, a government source said condition of anonymity.
The five males and six females expressed their desire to seek asylum in the South
after crossing into South Korean waters in a 3-ton fishing boat around 6:30 p.m.
and arriving in the South Korean port town of Jumunjin on the east coast.
"An initial questioning of them revealed they had departed from an unspecified
location in the North's North Hamgyong Province and sailed far out, about 160km,
before coming into the South," the source said.
The North Korean defectors told South Korean security officers they had prepared
their defection for about one year, and nine of them are a family, he added.
An army sentry detected the boat on a radar around 3:48 p.m. and tipped off the
South Korean Coast Guard, which moved to confirm the defectors' willingness to
defect to the South and guided the boat to the port. The asylum seekers are now
under protection at a naval base in Yangyang, near Jumunjin, according to the
source.
"The defectors are believed to have sailed far out in the East Sea to avoid the
watch of a North Korean patrol boat before crossing the sea border and
approaching the east coast," an army source said.
Seoul is expected to announce details after a joint team of security officers
gathers more information on the background of the asylum seekers and completes
its investigation.
More than 16,000 North Koreans have defected since the 1950-53 Korean War. Last
year, about 2,800 defectors arrived. Most North Koreans flee to the South
overland through China and Southeast Asia, with defections of North Koreans by
water becoming a new trend.
Twenty-one North Korean asylum seekers arrived by wooden boat in the port of
Incheon, west of Seoul, in 2002. The asylum seekers -- 14 males and seven females
-- were members of three families.
In 1987, North Korean doctor Kim Man-chol's family of 11 came to South Korea via
Taiwan after reaching Japan in a small boat. The family of Yo Man-chol, a former
North Korean People's Security Ministry captain, defected to the South via Hong
Kong in 1994.
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap)-- A group of 11 North Korean asylum seekers arrived in
South Korea by wooden boat through waters off the South's east coast Thursday,
marking the first case of a mass defection of North Koreans by sea in seven
years.
The group was comprised of nine adults and two children, while nine of the 11 are
a family unit, a government source said condition of anonymity.
The five males and six females expressed their desire to seek asylum in the South
after crossing into South Korean waters in a 3-ton fishing boat around 6:30 p.m.
and arriving in the South Korean port town of Jumunjin on the east coast.
"An initial questioning of them revealed they had departed from an unspecified
location in the North's North Hamgyong Province and sailed far out, about 160km,
before coming into the South," the source said.
The North Korean defectors told South Korean security officers they had prepared
their defection for about one year, and nine of them are a family, he added.
An army sentry detected the boat on a radar around 3:48 p.m. and tipped off the
South Korean Coast Guard, which moved to confirm the defectors' willingness to
defect to the South and guided the boat to the port. The asylum seekers are now
under protection at a naval base in Yangyang, near Jumunjin, according to the
source.
"The defectors are believed to have sailed far out in the East Sea to avoid the
watch of a North Korean patrol boat before crossing the sea border and
approaching the east coast," an army source said.
Seoul is expected to announce details after a joint team of security officers
gathers more information on the background of the asylum seekers and completes
its investigation.
More than 16,000 North Koreans have defected since the 1950-53 Korean War. Last
year, about 2,800 defectors arrived. Most North Koreans flee to the South
overland through China and Southeast Asia, with defections of North Koreans by
water becoming a new trend.
Twenty-one North Korean asylum seekers arrived by wooden boat in the port of
Incheon, west of Seoul, in 2002. The asylum seekers -- 14 males and seven females
-- were members of three families.
In 1987, North Korean doctor Kim Man-chol's family of 11 came to South Korea via
Taiwan after reaching Japan in a small boat. The family of Yo Man-chol, a former
North Korean People's Security Ministry captain, defected to the South via Hong
Kong in 1994.
(END)
