Monday, February 07, 2011

North Koreans arrive by boat in South Korea in possible defection

Thirty-one North Korean people crossed the tense Yellow Sea border by boat and arrived in South Korea two days ago, but they have not expressed any wishes to defect to the South, a military official said Monday.

The North Koreans, consisting of 11 men and 20 women, arrived on Yeonpyeong Island in a wooden fishing boat amidst thick fog.

Officials said they were not immediately clear on whether those aboard were fleeing the communist North for the South or whether they had simply drifted across the border unintentionally.

There are no children among the North Koreans, and they were believed to have left North Korea's western port city of Nampo, about 60 kilometers southwest of Pyongyang, according to the military official.

Yonhap News

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