South Korea rescues seven North Korean fishermen

South Korea rescues seven North Korean fishermen

2011-08-13 03:40:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

SEOUL (BNO NEWS) -- South Korea rescued seven North Korean fishermen aboard three boats near the disputed Yellow Sea border and sent three of them back to the North, the Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

According to the South's military, two of the boats were found sinking about 6 kilometers (3.72 miles) south of the maritime border near the South Korean island of Baengnyeong on Thursday. The fishermen were then questioned by the military about their will to defect.

A third fishing vessel was found drifting in waters near the same area and its three crew members were sent back after being supplied with fuel. "It appears that they drifted while fishing, but we'll have to find out the details through an investigation," a military official said.

"We verified that the crew we sent back had no intentions of defecting and (our policy is to) return fishing vessels that do not trespass intentionally on humanitarian grounds," the official said. "For now, it isn't clear why several boats crossed the border (simultaneously)."

More than 20,000 North Koreans have defected to the South to avoid chronic hunger and political oppression since the 1950-53 Korean War ended. The Northern Limit Line, as the maritime border is known, was drawn up at the end of the war, which ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

On Wednesday, North and South Korean forces briefly exchanged fire near their disputed maritime border, although the North rejected these reports and said their fire was actually explosions coming from a construction site.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which is officially still at war, have been at critical since a North Korean torpedo fired from a midget submarine sank the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 people. The attack in March 2010 left 46 people killed.

And months later, North Korean forces bombarded the disputed Yeonpyeong Island, prompting South Korea to return fire at North Korea. The artillery engagement from the North left two South Korean civilians killed while the South's return fire killed at least five people in North Korea.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-13