▲ This unrelated photo shows a North Korean fishing boat found on South Korea's west coast. (Yonhap)

N Koreans-border crossing

Group of N. Koreans crossed maritime border earlier this month: officials

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has taken into custody a group of North Koreans, including children, who crossed the de facto inter-Korean sea border aboard a fishing boat earlier this month, sources here said Thursday.

The military authorities found the ship approaching the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea at night on May 6 and sent troops to intercept it soon after it sailed across the maritime boundary, according to the sources.

The North Koreans are said to have expressed their intention to defect to South Korea.

They are reportedly undergoing questioning by relevant government agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, at a military base in the Seoul metropolitan area.

In recent years, the number of North Korean defectors here dropped due in large part to the reclusive state's stringent border controls put in place to fend off the spread of COVID-19. The number, which was tallied at around 1,000 in 2019, dipped to 229 in 2020 and 63 in 2021. Last year, it stood at 67.

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