South Korea has repatriated six North Koreans who accidentally entered South Korean waters earlier this year. The Seoul Ministry of Unification said that all six people always expressed their desire to go back.
In March, two North Koreans turned to southern waters and lasted for four months, the longest period recorded by non-missors.
The other four are sailors on the disputed oceanic border between the north and south of May.
This is the first such return under the presidency Lee Jae-Myung from Koreahad run for improvement of the relationship between Korea. The two countries failed to successfully coordinate the returns for several months.
In the past, there were several incidents in which North Koreans accidentally sailed to the south. They often use small wooden boats that can’t be easily turned back to their route once they drift.
In the past, authorities in both countries would coordinate those who wish to return to the north through their land borders.
However, Pyongyang cut off all communication lines between Curia when tensions in April 2023.
Eight months later, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced Unification with the South is no longer possible.
The only known communication channels remaining are the United States-led UN Command and news media.
The Seoul Unification Ministry said it had tried twice to notify the North of its intention to send the six people home through UN Command, but received no response.
North Korean patrol boats and fishing boats were found at the handover point Wednesday morning, leading some observers to believe that the two South Koreans would agree to a repatriation plan “behind the scenes.”
“If you set up a ship in the vast ocean without any coordination, it could be drifting again,” said Nam Sung-Wook, a former head of the think tank of the South Korean National Institute of Strategic Research.
Nam believes that when the six return to the north, the six will be interrogated in detail.
He told BBC Korean: “They will receive any spy training or hear anything sensitive.
After the investigation is over, they may be asked to help spread publicity. Their desire to return to the north “reinforces the legitimacy of the (Kim) regime”, Lim Eul-Chul is a professor of North Korean studies at Wang Engenham University.
Michael Madden, a North Korean expert from the Stemson Center in Washington President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Impossible.
“This may delay some decisions by both North Koreas.
“Pyongyang certainly doesn’t trust South Korea’s mega relics, two charges of illegal repatriation from the international community,” he said.
Some of the repatriation on Wednesday have been left behind North Korean defector Puzzled.
Activist Lee Min-Bok said the six people “should have the opportunity to talk to defectors and learn more about Korean society.”
Mr Lee said: “If I had the opportunity to talk to them, I would tell them the truth (about the history of Koret) and warn them that they could eventually face punishment from the North Korean regime simply because they had already experienced life in the South.”
But his team of activists largely stopped their activities as they expect a new pro-business government crackdown in South Korea.
Seoul National Assembly is currently debating a bill Such a balloon launch.
Lee Jae-Myung, who was elected South Korea’s president in June, has promised to re-engage dialogue with Pyongyang and reduce tensions between the two countries.
A week after he took office, the South Korean army Pause its speaker promotion Crossing North Korea’s borders – a move to “restore trust in the relationship between Kerry and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula”.
However, some analysts expect the link between South Korea to be less significant.
North Korea has “established solid cooperation” with Russia and now there is little need to participate in the South.
She said public opinion in the south also implies that there is little interest in interacting with the north.
“So there are few signals (if any) re-establishing a line of communication between the North and the South, let alone meaningful relationships.”
