NK weekly-inter-Korean news
Summary of inter-Korean news this week
SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.
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N. Korean family decided to cross border amid tightened COVID-19 control: spy agency
SEOUL -- A group of North Koreans who crossed the de facto inter-Korean sea border aboard a fishing boat earlier this month fled the North to escape Pyongyang's rigid COVID-19 restrictions, they were quoted as saying by Seoul's spy agency Friday.
Military authorities found the group of nearly 10 North Koreans, presumed to be a family, on a ship approaching the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea at night on May 6. The government has since been questioning them to verify whether they have an intention to defect to South Korea.
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S. Korea warns of firm response to N. Korea's spy satellite provocation
SEOUL -- South Korea's foreign ministry vowed Thursday to respond firmly if North Korea goes ahead with a launch of a military spy satellite that could further raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Lim Soo-suk, a spokesperson for the ministry, stressed that the launch of the satellite would violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting any launches involving ballistic missile technology.
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S. Korea-N. Korea showdown set in Olympic women's football qualifiers
SEOUL -- Hoping to make it to the Olympics for the first time, South Korea will face North Korea, China and Thailand in the second round of the Asian women's football qualifying tournament this fall.
In a draw held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, South Korea ended up in Group B with those three countries.
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(2nd LD) Group of N. Koreans crossed maritime border earlier this month: officials
SEOUL -- A group of North Koreans, including children, crossed the de facto inter-Korean sea border aboard a fishing boat earlier this month and are currently undergoing questioning by South Korean authorities, sources 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.
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S. Korea's envoy calls N. Korea's move to win int'l recognition with nuclear threats 'empty dream'
SEOUL -- South Korea's top nuclear envoy denounced North Korea on Monday for harboring an "empty dream" in using nuclear threats as the means to be recognized as a nuclear state from the international community, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
South Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, made the remarks Monday during a discussion session on nuclear anxieties in the Indo-Pacific region, as he attended the Munich Leaders Meeting in Tokyo, according to the ministry.
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