By Kim Se-jeong
North Korea demanded Thursday that nine North Koreans, who crossed the West Sea border into the South by boat last week, be returned home.
The North’s call for repatriation followed Seoul’s announcement that three men, two women and four children, were in custody after being found in the West Sea. They were on board two boats that were not powered.
“If you don’t send them back immediately, it could further damage inter-Korean relations,”said the North in a fax message, which was sent through a Red Cross communication channel at the truce village of Panmunjeom, the Unification Ministry said. It added that the North wanted the two boats returned as well.
A ministry official was quoted by Yonhap News as saying that whether to send them back to the North would be decided on dependant on the wishes of the nine.
The defectors arrived at Udo, a deserted island close to Yeonpyeong Island at around 6 a.m. on Saturday. The ministry said that they expressed their intention to defect, when approached by a South Korean naval vessel near the Northern Limit Line, the virtual inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea.
In February, 31 North Koreans drifted into the South’s water. Four expressed their wishes to stay, while the remaining 27 were sent back to the North on March 27, according to their wishes ― 50 days after their arrival.
Pyongyang protested Seoul’s decision to allow the four to stay, strongly demanding their repatriation.
According to the ministry, more than 21,000 North Koreans have defected to the South with attempts on the rise, prompting experts to point out that the increasing frequency of defections indicates that the food situation in the North is worsening.
The North’s food supplies are in dire straits, and it hopes to gain more assistance from the United States and European countries.