N. Korean soldier to return after accidentally crossing sea border

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean soldier who was rescued by the South
Korean Navy earlier this week after his boat drifted south of the border will be
repatriated Wednesday through a truce village straddling the Koreas, the U.N.
command here said.
The army sergeant underwent questioning by U.S. and South Korean authorities
after he was rescued in the Yellow Sea on Sunday, officials here said, declining
to provide his name. The officials said he was fishing before his boat drifted
south.
The U.N. command in Seoul said in a statement that the soldier has "expressed his
desire to be repatriated" and will return to the North through the Panmunjom
village in the Demilitarized Zone between the Koreas.
The U.N. command did not elaborate on the interviews its officials had with the
North Korean soldier, who "answered questions about his rescue and subsequent
care" by the authorities here.
The rescue came as tension persisted in the Yellow Sea where the navies of the
Koreas engaged in a skirmish last month for the third time in a decade.
North Korea refuses to honor the Northern Limit Line that has served as a de
facto maritime border with South Korea since their 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
cease-fire.
The U.N. command, led by a four-star U.S. general who also commands 28,500
American troops here, said the North Korean soldier was rescued one mile
northwest of Yeonpyeong Island at 2:00 p.m.
Accidental crossings of the maritime border are rare. In August, North Korea
returned four South Korean fishermen who had crossed the East Sea border weeks
earlier after the navigation system on their boat malfunctioned.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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