Three rescued N Koreans want defection in South

SEOUL: Three North Koreans wanted to defect after they were rescued from a small fishing boat which had drifted into South Korean waters off the east coast, officials said on Tuesday.
A South Korean coastguard vessel rescued four fishermen and a farmer from North Korea last Saturday after their boat was found drifting across the sea border, the South’s unification ministry said.
Three of them expressed a desire to stay in the South when they were picked up near the eastern island of Ulleung, while the others wanted to return home, it said in a statement.
Seoul has sent a message to Pyongyang, suggesting it would send home the two who called for repatriation through the border truce village of Panmunjom, ministry officials said.
But the North has rejected the South’s offer, insisting all five should be sent home, they said.
North Korea and South Korea have a disputed maritime boundary, and encroachment by North Korean fishing vessels into waters claimed by the South is quite common.