▲ This photo, provided by the Ministry of Unification on July 12, 2022, shows a North Korean fisherman (C, in gray), who was captured near the eastern inter-Korean sea border, resisting as he is handed over to North Korean authorities in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in November 2019. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

NK fishermen-repatriation footage

S. Korean gov't releases footage of two N.K. fishermen being repatriated in 2019

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry released footage Monday showing two North Korean fishermen repatriated across the inter-Korean border in 2019.

The highly unusual move came amid a heated political controversy over whether it was right and appropriate for the then liberal Moon Jae-in administration to have sent them back to the North, where they must have faced harsh punishment.

The four-minute video, filmed by a ministry official, showed one of the fishermen physically resisting being pulled across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) at the truce village of Panmunjom as he was handed over to North Korean authorities.

On Nov. 7, 2019, the Moon government repatriated the two North Koreans captured a week earlier near the eastern sea border, saying they had confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members.

At issue is whether they expressed a desire "with sincerity" to defect to the South.

Critics have accused the then Moon administration of hastily kicking out the fishermen in a bid to curry favor with Pyongyang.

Last week, the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs under the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration unveiled 10 photos of the fishermen being handed over to the North.

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