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| ▲ A wooden boat is towed by a South Korean military vessel toward a port in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, northeastern South Korea, on Oct. 24, 2023, after a group of four unidentified individuals from North Korea crossed the eastern maritime inter-Korean border on the boat and were spotted in waters off the nearby city of Sokcho. (Yonhap) |
NK vessel-rescue
N. Korean vessel stranded near eastern maritime border rescued by N.K. authorities: source
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean vessel stranded near the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the East Sea was towed away by North Korean authorities several hours after it was spotted by the South Korean military, sources said Monday.
The 10-meter-long vessel was spotted by a South Korean patrol ship while drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 2:16 p.m. Sunday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The people on board the North Korean ship, suspected to be a commercial vessel, said they had been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.
The JCS said the South Korean military provided food and water on "humanitarian grounds" and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.
"As humanitarian operations were conducted near the NLL, we quickly disclosed the relevant facts to prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas," a military official said. "We informed them that people aboard the North Korean ship had no intention of defecting to ensure that they would not be punished after returning to North Korea."
The incident came just five days after a North Korean vessel carrying suspected defectors crossed the eastern NLL into South Korean waters. A joint investigation has been under way to look into their exact motive for crossing into South Korea.
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