Photo : YONHAP News
Two North Koreans drifting on a wooden boat in the Yellow Sea were reportedly discovered by the South Korean military early this month and are being investigated. According to the military authorities on Friday, a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft discovered a small wooden boat drifting 170 kilometers west of Eocheong Island in the Yellow Sea at 11:17 a.m. on March 7 during a surveillance and reconnaissance mission. The military and the Korea Coast Guard found two North Korean men on the boat. The location lies within the Provisional Measures Zone, an area where the exclusive economic zones of South Korea and China overlap, and south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border. The military reportedly took custody of the two North Koreans and launched a joint investigation with relevant agencies, including the National Intelligence Service.
The North Koreans are believed to have accidentally crossed the Northern Limit Line due to a problem with their boat and haven’t clearly expressed their intent to defect to South Korea.