Fisherman recounts first encounter with North Korean defector

The 60-year-old Lim Jae-gil, who operates a 3.5-ton fishing boat, said it was evident that the wooden boat drifting near Sokcho, Gangwon, was from North Korea. The four passengers on the wooden boat were a family including a young girl.

A wooden boat, which four North Koreans used it to cross over the NLL to defect to South Korea, towed to shore in Sokcho, Gangwon, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The 60-year-old Lim Jae-gil, who operates a 3.5-ton fishing boat, informed the JoongAng Ilbo that it was evident that the wooden boat drifting near Sokcho, Gangwon, was from North Korea.

On Tuesday, Korean authorities picked up a 5 to 6-meter long wooden boat that carried four North Korean passengers, two of whom were women, and a young girl.

Lim reported the suspicious boat to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives’ Sokcho office.

He mentioned that he only saw three of the passengers, as one remained hidden on the wooden boat.

However, Lim speculated that the fourth person was a child, as the young woman frequently moved between his ship and theirs.

According to the fisherman, the man appeared to be in his 20s to 30s and was of small stature, around 160 centimeters (5.2 ft) tall.

Lim stated that there were two women, one in her 20s or 30s, and the other in her 40s or 50s.

The younger woman was wearing a clean pair of white sneakers, while the older woman wore black shoes.

The first question the man on the boat asked was about their location, to which Lim replied, “Gangwon Sokcho.”

The North Korean then maneuvered his boat close to Lim's ship and tied a rope before turning off the engine.

“From the noise it was making, it seemed the engine came from a tractor,” Lim said.

Lim offered the North Korean man a cigarette and water.

When an airplane flew overhead, the North Korean gazed at the sky intently.

“When I asked if he came from North Korea, he didn’t answer,” Lim said. “When I asked him again, he shook his head.” Lim inquired about when they had left North Korea, and the man replied, “today.”

The fisherman comforted them by saying that the South Korean coast guard would arrive soon.

One of the women, after looking at his ship, remarked, “South Korean ships are really nice.” Lim mentioned that the North Korean told him they were a family.

Although Lim was surprised when the man suddenly boarded his ship, he wasn't scared, as he approached to rescue the passengers.

The North Koreans were handed over to South Korean authorities, who confirmed their desire to defect.

This is the second time that a North Korean family had crossed over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) to defect this year.

In May, two families, totaling nine members, drifted into South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea. It was the first group of families to defect in six years, since 2017.

The latest escape of North Koreans coincides with news that approximately 600 North Koreans who had defected were repatriated from China after the Asian Games held in Hangzhou.

Several rights groups, including the North Korean human rights NGO, Justice for North Korea, claim that Chinese authorities forced North Korean defectors imprisoned in border regions, including Dandong, Hunchun, Tumen, Nanping, and Changbai, back to North Korea.

On Monday, a group of human rights lawyers claimed that an additional 170 North Korean defectors are expected to be repatriated from China.

In 2019, under the Moon Jae-in government, two North Korean men who crossed over to South Korea by a wooden boat were sent back to North Korea.

The Moon government claimed that the two North Koreans were murder suspects.

BY PARK JIN-HO, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]