Seoul, July 9
South Korea on Wednesday repatriated six North Koreans via the maritime border in the East Sea, months after they had drifted into southern waters and were rescued.
A wooden boat carrying them, all fishermen, crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, at around 8:56 am, according to an official at South Korea's unification ministry.
The boat headed on its own toward two North Korea ships, including a patrol vessel, waiting on the other side of the NLL, and the three ships subsequently moved northward together, the official said.
In May, South Korea rescued four North Koreans aboard a ship that had drifted into the South Korean side of the East Sea, following a similar case in March in which two North Koreans were rescued in the Yellow Sea. All of them expressed a wish to go back to the North.
The repatriated boat is one of the vessels the North Koreans were rescued in. It was repaired for the fishermen's repatriation, while the other was deemed unusable due to damage.
"The repatriation would have been carried out much more smoothly and promptly if the two Koreas had been in close contact and communication," the ministry official said.