Boat people want to stay in South
Published: 05 Oct. 2009, 04:09
All of the North Koreans on board a fishing vessel that landed on the east coat of South Korea on Thursday evening have expressed a desire to defect to the South, the South Korean government announced yesterday.
Nine adults and two children said they would like to settle in South Korea, according to a press release issued by the Unification Ministry in Seoul after an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the boat people.
The ministry also said North Korea asked South Korea, on Friday and also yesterday, to return the 11 North Koreans. In response, the South informed the North that the North Koreans wanted to seek asylum here and that if Pyongyang wanted to confirm the defectors’ intentions, it could take due steps to do so.
The North Koreans were first spotted by radar at the 23rd Army Division near Jumunjin in Gangwon on the east coast, around 3:22 p.m. Thursday. At 4:15 p.m., the South Korean Coast Guard met the three-ton North Korean boat at sea, where the North Koreans first expressed their intention to seek asylum. The boat docked at a South Korean naval base by 6:30 p.m.
It wasn’t immediately clear how far out the boat was when it was first detected. But according to a military source, the radar at the 23rd Division can cover about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) in radius.
An investigation by officials from the Coast Guard, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service currently underway discovered that the North Korean boat left a port town in North Hamgyong north of the border on Sept. 27 and traveled about 250 kilometers southeast to elude North Korean radar.
A source explained that it may take up to 10 days before the officials wrap up their investigation.
Preliminary questioning on Thursday revealed that the 11 North Koreans had prepared for their trip for about a year and nine of the 11 are part of the same family. On Friday, a South Korean television report claimed two of the North Koreans had said they wanted to return to the North, but the National Intelligence Service later refuted the report.
According to the Unification Ministry, 2,809 North Koreans defected to the South in 2008, an 11-percent annual increase. Through August this year, there were about 1,900 North Korean defectors who reached the South.
A Unification Ministry official noted that the latest defection would have virtually no adverse effect on the inter-Korean relations, since there are already thousands of North Koreans defecting to the South each year.
“There’s nothing special to this, other than that they traveled by sea,” he said.
Most defectors flee to the South through China and Southeast Asia on overland routes. There have been eight previous defections by water, according to the ministry.
The last coastal defection took place in December last year. In 2002, 21 North Koreans-members of three different families-had also arrived by boat on the west coast.
After investigation, North Korean defectors settle at Hanawon, a South Korean state-run facility designed to help North Koreans integrate into South Korea.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
Nine adults and two children said they would like to settle in South Korea, according to a press release issued by the Unification Ministry in Seoul after an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the boat people.
The ministry also said North Korea asked South Korea, on Friday and also yesterday, to return the 11 North Koreans. In response, the South informed the North that the North Koreans wanted to seek asylum here and that if Pyongyang wanted to confirm the defectors’ intentions, it could take due steps to do so.
The North Koreans were first spotted by radar at the 23rd Army Division near Jumunjin in Gangwon on the east coast, around 3:22 p.m. Thursday. At 4:15 p.m., the South Korean Coast Guard met the three-ton North Korean boat at sea, where the North Koreans first expressed their intention to seek asylum. The boat docked at a South Korean naval base by 6:30 p.m.
It wasn’t immediately clear how far out the boat was when it was first detected. But according to a military source, the radar at the 23rd Division can cover about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) in radius.
An investigation by officials from the Coast Guard, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service currently underway discovered that the North Korean boat left a port town in North Hamgyong north of the border on Sept. 27 and traveled about 250 kilometers southeast to elude North Korean radar.
A source explained that it may take up to 10 days before the officials wrap up their investigation.
Preliminary questioning on Thursday revealed that the 11 North Koreans had prepared for their trip for about a year and nine of the 11 are part of the same family. On Friday, a South Korean television report claimed two of the North Koreans had said they wanted to return to the North, but the National Intelligence Service later refuted the report.
According to the Unification Ministry, 2,809 North Koreans defected to the South in 2008, an 11-percent annual increase. Through August this year, there were about 1,900 North Korean defectors who reached the South.
A Unification Ministry official noted that the latest defection would have virtually no adverse effect on the inter-Korean relations, since there are already thousands of North Koreans defecting to the South each year.
“There’s nothing special to this, other than that they traveled by sea,” he said.
Most defectors flee to the South through China and Southeast Asia on overland routes. There have been eight previous defections by water, according to the ministry.
The last coastal defection took place in December last year. In 2002, 21 North Koreans-members of three different families-had also arrived by boat on the west coast.
After investigation, North Korean defectors settle at Hanawon, a South Korean state-run facility designed to help North Koreans integrate into South Korea.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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