South Korea repatriates 6 North Korean fishermen
Seoul's Ministry of Unification said the men had repeatedly expressed the desire to go back to North Korea, news agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday.
"The South Korean government repatriated six North Korean residents today via the East Sea," the unification ministry said in a statement.
"With the full consent of all North Korean individuals involved... all six were repatriated together."
Four of the North Korean fishermen were rescued in May after their boat drifted into the South Korean side of the East Sea.
The other two men were rescued from the Yellow Sea under similar circumstances in March.
Yonhap reported that the men were all placed on board a wooden boat which carried them back to North Korean waters.
Some have questioned whether the men really wanted to return to the North.
The Korea Times cited activist Peter Jung of the Seoul-based NGO, Justice for North Korea, as saying that the fishermen's wishes should have been verified "under the presence of the UN Refugee Agency or other UN agencies in Seoul."
"It is difficult to believe all six of them want to return to North Korea," Jung said.
Tens of thousands have fled North Korea to the South since the peninsula was divided in the 1950s.
A few days ago a North Korean civilian defected across the heavily mined land border into South Korea with the help of the South's military in a 20-hour operation.
Crossings directly through the 248-kilometer (155-mile) long, 4-kilometer-wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) are considered extremely rare.
The two countries are still officially at war since a conflict in the 1950s, as the conflict ended in an armistice, but not a peace treaty.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, has adopted a less hawkish approach than his predecessorand has said he would seek dialogue with Pyongyang.
Lee ordered the discontinuation of the loudspeakers to "promote peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
This 95-Year-Old Dreams of Walking Home to North Korea
GIMPO, South Korea—As a young man seven decades ago, Ahn Hak-seop fought for Kim Il Sung in the Korean War. South Koreans captured him, imprisoned him and demanded he embrace capitalism. He once spurned an opportunity to go home to North Korea, pinning his return on an ultimatum explained by the message plastered on his home's mailbox: 'Withdraw U.S. troops.' Ahn, now 95 and in poor health, has a final wish: 'I want to die in North Korea.'


Washington Post
14 hours ago
- Washington Post
North Korean leader slams South Korea-US military drills while inspecting his most powerful warship
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned South Korean-U.S. military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, state media said Tuesday, as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems. Kim's visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday came as the South Korean and U.S. militaries kicked off their annual large-scale summertime exercise to bolster readiness against growing North Korean threats. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, which the allies describe as defensive, will mobilize 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, for computer-simulated command post operations and field training. North Korea has long denounced the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals and Kim has often used them to justify his own military displays and testing activities aimed at expanding his nuclear weapons program. The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war, divided by the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea and South Korea. While inspecting the warship Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton-class destroyer first unveiled in April, Kim said the allies' joint military drills show hostility and their supposed 'will to ignite a war,' the North's Korean Central News Agency said. He claimed that the exercises have grown more provocative than before by incorporating a 'nuclear element,' requiring the North to respond with 'proactive and overwhelming' countermeasures. 'The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the prevailing situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearization,' KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying, using the initials of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The government of South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae Myung , who has expressed a willingness to repair ties and resume dialogue with the North, did not immediately respond to Kim's comments. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it had no immediate new assessments to share regarding the North Korean warship's capabilities. South Korean and U.S. military officials say Ulchi Freedom Shield will focus on countering North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threat and will include training to deter North Korean nuclear use and respond to its missile attacks. The exercise will also incorporate lessons from recent conflicts, including Russia's war in Ukraine and the clash between Israel and Iran, and address threats from drones, GPS jamming and cyberattacks. Kim has hailed the development of his naval destroyer, Choe Hyon, as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military. State media said the destroyer, which is being prepared to enter active duty next year, is designed to handle various weapons systems, including antiair and anti-naval weapons, as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. The North unveiled a second destroyer of the same class in May, but the vessel was damaged during a botched launching ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin, prompting an angry reaction from Kim, who called the failure 'criminal.' The North has said the new destroyer, named Kang Kon, was relaunched in June after repair, but some outside experts have questioned whether the ship is fully operational. During Monday's visit to Nampo, Kim also reviewed North Korean efforts to complete a third destroyer by October, KCNA said. While inspecting Choe Hyon, Kim expressed satisfaction with the progress of the warship's weapons tests and its integrated operations system, saying the navy's modernization and move toward nuclear-capable capabilities are proceeding as planned. He instructed officials to carry out performance tests in October, KCNA said. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim accelerated his military nuclear program and deepened alignment with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. His government has repeatedly dismissed calls by Washington and Seoul to revive negotiations aimed at winding down his nuclear and missile programs, which derailed in 2019 following a collapsed summit with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term. In his latest message to Pyongyang on Friday, Lee, who took office in June, said he would seek to restore a 2018-inter-Korean military agreement designed to reduce border tensions and called for North Korea to respond to the South's efforts to rebuild trust and revive talks. The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between the Koreas, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes. But South Korea suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume front line military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea had already declared it would no longer abide by the agreement.


Bloomberg
15 hours ago
- Bloomberg
BOK's Rhee Flags Trade, Growth Risks Ahead of Policy Meeting
South Korea's economy rebounded in the second quarter but still faces high levels of uncertainty from US trade talks with major economies, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang Yong said ahead of next week's policy decision. Speaking at a parliamentary committee Tuesday, Rhee highlighted a range of factors authorities will have to take into account when they decide whether to resume the monetary easing cycle in setting policy on Aug. 28.