Twenty-seven North Koreans who drifted on a fishing boat into South Korean waters in February were sent home yesterday after bad weather and a crippled boat delayed their return earlier this month, the South Korean government said.

Their repatriation comes 50 days after 31 North Koreans drifted into South Korean waters on Feb. 5. Four decided to defect, while the 27 others requested to be sent back. 

“The 27 people were repatriated to North Korea at 12:55 p.m. in their boat via the Yellow Sea over the Northern Limit Line,” South Korea’s Red Cross said in a statement.

According to the South Korean government, the 27 North Koreans left a military base in Incheon on two Coast Guard ships at 8:09 a.m., and they were later transferred to their five-ton boat. 

The boat was then guided by a North Korean military ship after it crossed the Northern Limit Line at 12:55 p.m., Seoul officials said. Of the 31 North Koreans - 11 men and 20 women - two men and two women said they wanted to defect. 

When the South Korean government decided to allow the four North Koreans to remain and planned to send the 27 others back, the North Korean government expressed harsh criticism.

Accusing the South Korean government of keeping the four against their will, the North threatened that there would be “heavy consequences” if all of them weren’t returned. 

On March 9, North Korea’s official Web site Uriminzokkiri posted a video clip that showed interviews of the four defectors’ families. The families demanded that South Korea immediately return their family members. 

The South Korean government originally planned to hand over the 27 to the North Korean navy near the Yellow Sea border on March 17, but bad weather and mechanical problems with the boat delayed their return. 

Noting that the North Korean navy accepted the 27 after they crossed the Northern Limit Line, South Korean critics argued that the North’s action was contradictory because Pyongyang does not recognize the line, which was unilaterally drawn in 1953 by U.S.-led UN forces. North Korea regularly violates the Yellow Sea border, and naval skirmishes took place in those waters in June 1999, June 2002 and November 2009. 

Observers said this may be the first time that the North Korean navy recognized the Northern Limit Line. North Korea began to demur the line in 1973. 


By Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr]