S. Korea rejects N. Korea's demand to return 11 defectors

(ATTN: UPDATES with North Korean demand for return of 11 alleged asylum seekers)
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is demanding the return of its 11 citizens
who sailed to South Korea last week in an alleged defection bid, but Seoul said
Sunday it will not comply, because all of them want to defect.
The North Koreans -- six women and five men -- were found to be drifting off
South Korea's east coast on Thursday aboard a 3-ton wooden boat and are now
undergoing interrogation by South Korea's authorities.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said the North Koreans, who include nine
members of a family, have all expressed their intentions to defect.
"We cannot take a measure against their free will," Unification Ministry
spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said, disclosing that the North twice sent messages on
Friday and Sunday, asking for their repatriation.
The ministry said in a press release that the Seoul government told North Korea
in a reply that it "is wiling to go through a procedure for North Korea to
confirm their intentions firsthand."
The alleged defections occurred at a sensitive time, when North Korea was
reaching out to improve ties with South Korea's conservative government. In a
major sign of their thawing relations, the Koreas held reunions for families
separated by the 1950-53 Korean War last week, the first such event in nearly two
years.
Investigators said the North Koreans departed from Kimchaek, a port on the
North's east coast, on the night of Sept. 27 and sailed as far as 250km southeast
into international waters to avoid the North's radar.
They quoted the North Koreans as saying that they had prepared for the defection
for about one year.
Most North Koreans defect to South Korea via China. Defections through the
tightly guarded inter-Korean sea and land borders are rare.
Twenty-one North Koreans defected to South Korea in 2002 across the western sea
border. The group, comprised of 14 males and seven females, were members of three
families.
More than 16,000 North Koreans have defected since the 1950-53 Korean War.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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