Four North Koreans cross NLL in East Sea

[Photo by Yonhap]

Four North Korean residents were discovered on the South Korean side of the East Sea on Tuesday as they crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on a small wooden vessel. The vessel carrying the North Koreans was discovered at approximately 7:10 a.m. by a South Korean fishing boat operating about 11 kilometers east of Sokcho in the waters, according to the Korea Coast Guard (KCG). “A Sokcho coast guard patrol team was dispatched to the scene after we received the report from the fishermen and referred the four North Korean residents in the vessel to the joint government investigation team,” the KCG said.

The North Koreans on board the vessel included one male and three females, who are believed to be a family. The government plans to conduct a joint interview with them to obtain more details concerning their personal backgrounds and their route to the south, as well as to assess the reason for their defection.

Amid the reported NLL crossing, critics raised concerns over NLL surveillance. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, responded that they acknowledged the crossing. “The wooden vessel from North Korea was under observation through radar and thermal observation devices (TOD) as it moved in the waters,” the joint authority said. According to the authority, they monitored unusual movements from the North Korean military in the northern sea of the NLL from about 4:00 a.m. that day and dispatched a maritime patrol aircraft to respond while tracking the boat’s course. The authority stated that it secured the North Korean residents into its custody jointly with the coast guard.

This marks the first attempt by North Korean residents to defect via a vessel in the East Sea since November 2019. At that time, the then-Moon administration forcibly repatriated them through the Panmunjom truce village, suspecting them of being felony criminals who had committed murder at sea.