North Korea to release South Korean fishing boat, crew

North Korea says it will release a South Korean fishing boat and its crew, which Pyongyang has determined had entered North Korean waters illegally but for fishing only.

The South Korean fishing boat “391Hungjin” was seized on October 21, and investigations by the North found that the boat and its crew illegally entered North Korean waters in the East Sea for fishing, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.

Pyongyang decided to return the boat and its crew due to humanitarian considerations after all the crewmen admitted to and apologized for the intrusion and asked for clemency, according to the KCNA.

The agency added that the North would repatriate the boat and its crew at the designated waters of the military boundary line in the East Sea on Friday.

A South Korean Unification Ministry official said it had been aware the South Korean fishermen had gone missing earlier in the week and that it was a relief to have them back.

The crew of 10, including seven South Koreans and three Vietnamese, would be questioned by officials on their return, he added.

The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.