2 North Korean Fishermen to Be Sent Home Soon
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea has informed North Korea that it will soon send two North Korean fishermen, who drifted into South Korean territory last week, back home, an official of the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday.
The two were found near the Dokdo Islets in the East Sea last Sunday after drifting due to a faltering motor.
"They seemed lost after being mistakenly separated from their mother ship, and the South Korean Coast Guard found them drifting," the official said. "During an inter-agency investigation, they made it clear that they want to return to the North."
After the two Koreas agree on a date of repatriation, they are expected to walk over the inter-Korean border at the truce village of Panmunjeom.
Late last month, seven North Koreans were found drifting south of the West Sea border and sent back to the North a few days later as all of them expressed the wish to be repatriated.