Four North Koreans were found aboard a small wooden boat near South Korea in a possible attempt to defect from their country, South Korean officials have said.
North Koreans frequently flee their country to avoid poverty and political oppression, with over 30,000 such cases reported since the 1990s.
The latest discovery on Tuesday was made by a South Korean coastguard ship, responding to a report from a fishing boat south of the eastern sea border that separates the two Koreas.
The individuals onboard, comprising a man and three women, identified themselves as North Koreans.
However, this event stands as an unusual case. Defections from North Korea by sea are infrequent due to the increased dangers associated with maritime escape.
The South Korean military, in coordination with the coast guard, took the North Koreans into custody after a sea border pursuit.
A military statement said the North Koreans were suspected of defecting to South Korea but gave no further details.
South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS said the four North Koreans are members of a single family and were unarmed. They were not wearing military uniforms at the time of their discovery, officials said.
Typically, North Korean defectors undergo rigorous questioning by South Korean authorities to ascertain the authenticity of their desire to resettle.
In previous instances, some defectors have been deported after investigations deemed them criminals or spies. But a deportation in 2019 raised concerns among human rights groups, who criticised the decision to expedite the process, suggesting it was driven by political motives.
While South Korea generally accepts defectors, North Korea often claims that its citizens are held against their will in the South and demands their repatriation.
This latest incident, if confirmed as genuine defection, would mark the second instance of North Koreans fleeing to the South by sea this year.
In May, nine individuals successfully defected by sea off the Korean Peninsula's west coast, as reported by South Korea's Unification Ministry.
