S. Korea to repatriate 4 N. Korean nationals found adrift in East Sea

A wooden boat is towed by a South Korean military vessel in the East Sea, Oct. 24, 2023. Yonhap

South Korea will work toward the prompt and safe repatriation of four North Korean nationals who were rescued while adrift on the South Korean side of the East Sea last month, a government official said Thursday.

South Korea's military and Coast Guard rescued the four North Koreans on May 27 while they were drifting about 100 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border, in the East Sea aboard a small wooden boat.

A unification ministry official said all of them have expressed a wish to return to North Korea during a government investigation.

"The ministry will work to have them return to North Korea promptly and safely in a humanitarian manner in cooperation with other relevant government agencies," the official told reporters.

It remains, however, unclear whether North Korea will respond to Seoul's approach to discuss their repatriation.

Two separate North Korean nationals were rescued in the Yellow Sea in a similar case in March, but they have remained in South Korea for more than three months amid North Korea's continued silence on Seoul's efforts to repatriate them.

Sending North Koreans home across the land border requires approval from the United Nations Command, which oversees the ceasefire of the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North has remained unresponsive to the command's attempted contacts regarding the repatriation.