Pyongyang claims S. Korea tried to abduct fishing boats

North Korea said Saturday Seoul had "captured" its fishing boats that crossed the inter-Korean sea border earlier this week, adding that South Korea also tried to abduct its fishermen.

On Wednesday, a North Korean fishing vessel was sent back home after it accidentally crossed the border. The vessel was reported by a South Korean fishing boat some 21 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, in the East Sea.

The boat and its crew were expelled by the South Korean authorities back to the North after a short time. Only one North Korean boat was spotted by the military.

"Though the fishermen notified them repeatedly that their boats were returning to their port after a fishing operation, the puppet forces attempted to abduct the fishermen at any cost," said the Korean Central News Agency in an English dispatch monitored in Seoul.

North Korea occasionally sends its vessels south of the NLL, which they do not accept as an official sea border since the demarcation line was drawn up by the United Nations Command after the 1950-53 Korean War. (Yonhap)