Home   >   News   >   North Korea   >   South Korea sends 2 North Korean fishermen back home

South Korea sends 2 North Korean fishermen back home

July 13, 2015

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) — South Korea repatriated two out of five rescued North Korean fishermen Tuesday, while the North has demanded Seoul send back all the sailors, including the three who want to defect to the South.

South Korea completed its repatriation of the two fishermen, who have expressed their desire to go home, at the truce village of Panmunjom earlier in the day, according to the Unification Ministry.

The North has threatened to take “stern” actions if Seoul refuses to send all five fishermen back home who were found drifting on a vessel due to engine failure and rescued by the South’s Coast Guard off the east coast on July 4.

North Korea’s Red Cross said Monday it will send relevant officials, along with the family members of the five fishermen, to the truce village Tuesday to take them all into custody.

The North urged the South to reveal the identities of those wishing to defect and to allow their families to meet with them, a move that Seoul has rejected on humanitarian grounds.

“It is not clear whether the family members of all five sailors appeared at Panmunjom,” said a ministry official. “There seemed to be no conflict in the process of the repatriation.”

Tension on the divided peninsula remains high over North Korea’s provocative actions, including its launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine in May.

Despite such tension, the two Koreas have a practice of repatriating civilians who accidentally land in each other’s territory.

In what could be seen as a conciliatory tit-for-tat, South Korea sent home five rescued North Korean fishermen on humanitarian grounds on June 18.

A day earlier, the North repatriated two South Koreans who allegedly sneaked into the communist nation in May during their trip to China.

One Comment

  1. Shallotte Computer Repair

    July 13, 2015 at 10:06 PM

    I really hope NK can change so their people can be treated better!

    Reply