You might recall in early February the story of 31 North Koreans that accidentally drifted on their boat into South Korea (at contested border island Yeonpyeong), recently shelled by North Korea), at what was then presumed to be a defection attempt. The group was adamant that defection was not their intention, and that they had washed up by mistake. Now apparently, 4 of the group do wish to defect to South Korea, and their wishes are being honoured. South Korea will repatriate only 27 of the North Koreans, despite demands from the North that all 31 be delivered back immediately.
The four defectors consist of two men, and two women. The remaining 9 men and 18 women will be returned to the DPRK by way of the Panmunjom DMZ border village. The wooden boat they arrived in, which departed from the North Korean port city of Nampo, will also be returned to North Korea. The transaction is supposed to occur this Friday.
Speculation is abound (when isn’t it?) that the North will react harshly to only some of the stranded North Koreans being returned. This comes during a time of escalated tensions, as the North threatens “all out war” in retaliation for annual war games and simulations run by the South Korean and American militaries. As of November 2010, 20,000 defectors reside in South Korea, most going through China to get there.
Source: Yonhap News / Korea JoongAng Daily
