Seoul: South Korea on Wednesday repatriated six North Korean fishermen via the maritime border in the East Sea, months after they had drifted into southern waters and were rescued. A wooden boat carrying the fishermen crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, at around 8:56 a.m., according to an official at South Korea's unification ministry. The boat proceeded on its own towards two North Korean ships, including a patrol vessel, waiting on the other side of the NLL, and the three ships subsequently moved northward together, the official said.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in May, South Korea rescued four North Koreans aboard a ship that had drifted into the South Korean side of the East Sea, following a similar incident in March in which two North Koreans were rescued in the Yellow Sea. All of the rescued individuals expressed a wish to return to the North. The repatriated boat is one of the vessels the North Koreans were rescued in. It was repaired for the fishermen's repatriation, while the other was deemed unusable due to damage.

"The repatriation would have been carried out much more smoothly and promptly if the two Koreas had been in close contact and communication," the ministry official noted. Ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam cited humanitarian grounds as he reaffirmed the plan to return them safely and promptly earlier this week. The official mentioned that the government had confirmed the North Koreans' wish to return home multiple times before being sent back.

The repatriation took place even though North Korea had remained unresponsive to Seoul's repeated calls, made through the U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC), to arrange the North Koreans' return, with inter-Korean communication channels still severed amid strained ties. Through the UNC channel, Seoul notified Pyongyang of the repatriation location and time, but the North Korean ships appeared for the transfer without prior notice or response, the ministry official stated.

Seoul opted for the sea route for the repatriation rather than the land route via the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom to avoid potential tensions due to Pyongyang's lack of response on the matter, according to the official. The repatriation came as President Lee Jae Myung seeks to mend strained relations with North Korea in an effort to ease military tensions and establish peace. Since taking office last month, Lee has ordered a halt to the military's loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea and urged civic groups to suspend their anti-Pyongyang campaigns to send propaganda leaflets across the border to North Korea.