Seoul returns six North Koreans who are worn south accidentally

South Korea has repatriated six North Koreans who accidentally turned to the South Korean waters earlier this year. And the six consistently expressed their desire to go back, said the Ministry of Seoul.

Two of the North Koreans got into the southern waters in March and remained for four months – the longest period registered for non -performing.

The other four are sailors who were watered across a controversial maritime border between north and south in May.

This is the first such return under the presidency of Lee Jae-Myung from South KoreaWho was a campaign to improve Korea’s connections. The two countries unsuccessfully tried to coordinate the return for months.

There are several previous cases of the North Koreans who sail involuntarily south. They often use small, wooden boats that cannot be easily directed back to their course after moving.

In the past, authorities in both countries would coordinate to send those who want to return north through their land border.

However, Pyongyang had cut off all inter -core communication lines in April 2023 against the background of increased tension.

Eight months later the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced that South compound is no longer possibleS

The only known channels of communication that remain are the command of the US and the media.

The Seoul Ministry said it had tried twice to inform the North of its intention to send these six people to home through the United Nations command, but did not receive an answer.

The North Korean patrol ships and fishing boats were spotted at the point of broadcast on Wednesday morning, which made some observers believe that the two Koreans would agree on a repatriation plan behind the scenes.

“If you set a boat in the vast ocean without any coordination, there is a real risk, it can move again,” says Nam Sung-Wuk, the former head of the Korean National Institute of Strategies.

Nam believes the six people will be questioned long when they return north.

“They will be grilled whether they have received any spying training or have heard something sensitive.

Once the investigation is completed, they can be asked to help spread propaganda. Their desire to return to the north “increases the legitimacy of the (Kim) regime,” adds Lim El-Chul, a professor specializing in North Korean research at the University of Kyungm.

Michael Madden, an expert in North Korea from the Stimson Center in Washington, said the boats move south when South Korea is led by temporary presidents after former President Ion Suk Yol’s impeachmentS

“This may have delayed some decision -making in both Koreas.

“Pyongyang certainly did not trust the remnants of Yon in South Korea, and the two Korea could be open to accusations of illegal repatriation beyond the political assessment of the international community,” he said.

Retatry on Wednesday have left some North Korean defects Puzzled.

Activist Lee Min-Bok says the six people “had to be given a chance to talk with defects and learn more about South Korean society.”

“If I had the opportunity to talk to them, I would have told them the truth (about intercorean history) and warned them that they could eventually face a penalty from the North Korean regime simply because they had already survived a life to the south,” says Mr. Lee, who sailed balloons with anti-Kimmy leaflets in the north.

However, his team of activists has largely stopped his activities as they expect repression from the new South Korea administration.

Seoul National Assembly is currently discussing a banning bill Such a balloon launchesS

Lee Ja-Mung, who was elected president of South Korea in June, promised to restart the dialogue with Pyongyang and reduce tension between the two countries.

A week after he took office, the military in South Korea stopped their propaganda broadcasts on the speaker Through the border to North Korea – in what he described as a move to “restore confidence in inter -core relations and to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula”.

However, some analysts do not expect a significant improvement in Korean connections.

North Korea has “built solid cooperation” with Russia and now has a “little need” to engage the South, says Celesta Arrington, director of the Institute for Korean Research at George Washington.

Public opinion in the south also offers a small appetite for engaging with the North, she says.

“In this way, there are few signals, if any, to restore communication lines between the North and the South, let alone a significant warming of relations.”