ID :
96479
Thu, 12/24/2009 - 01:53
Auther :
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https://oananews.org//node/96479
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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.
"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)
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.
"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)
