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21 North Korean defectors rescued in Yellow Sea
Seoul, Aug 18: A boat carrying 21 North Koreans who have fled their famine-stricken homeland was rescued today in the Yellow Sea by a South Korean patrol boat, police said.
Seoul, Aug 18: A boat carrying 21 North Koreans who have fled their famine-stricken homeland was rescued today in the Yellow Sea by a South Korean patrol boat, police said.
The 20-tonne boat was spotted sailing into South Korean territory off the western island of Tocheok at 6:30 pm local time, a maritime police spokesman said.
"The boat being towed by our patrol boat is to arrive in the western port of Incheon tomorrow morning," he said.
The defectors, including 10 children, allegedly left a port in Sonchon county near the border between North Korea and China early yesterday, he said.
They are the first group of boat people directly from the impoverished Stalinist country since a South Korean navy boat rescued 14 defectors off Incheon in May, 1997. In Seoul, the defectors will stay at a government safe house for interrogation on their bid for freedom, officials said.
A growing number of North Koreans are fleeing famine and repression mostly through china hoping to get to South Korea.
So far this year, some 600 North Koreans have arrived in the south, compared to 583 in all of 2001 and 148 in 1999, according to South Korean intelligence authorities.
On August 4, 11 North Korean defectors who took refuge at the South Korean consulate in Beijing landed in Seoul.
Two North Koreans forced their way into the Albanian embassy in Beijing Tuesday and are requesting asylum in South Korea. Bureau Report
"The boat being towed by our patrol boat is to arrive in the western port of Incheon tomorrow morning," he said.
The defectors, including 10 children, allegedly left a port in Sonchon county near the border between North Korea and China early yesterday, he said.
They are the first group of boat people directly from the impoverished Stalinist country since a South Korean navy boat rescued 14 defectors off Incheon in May, 1997. In Seoul, the defectors will stay at a government safe house for interrogation on their bid for freedom, officials said.
A growing number of North Koreans are fleeing famine and repression mostly through china hoping to get to South Korea.
So far this year, some 600 North Koreans have arrived in the south, compared to 583 in all of 2001 and 148 in 1999, according to South Korean intelligence authorities.
On August 4, 11 North Korean defectors who took refuge at the South Korean consulate in Beijing landed in Seoul.
Two North Koreans forced their way into the Albanian embassy in Beijing Tuesday and are requesting asylum in South Korea. Bureau Report