North Korean Defectors’ Strange Actions Baffle South Korean Fishermen

The ship was completely different
North Korean woman: “South Korean ships are really nice.”

On the 24th, four North Korean residents were discovered by our fishermen in the sea off Sokcho after descending below the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on a small wooden boat. In the afternoon, military authorities tow the small wooden boat to Gisamun Harbor in Yangyang County. / Yonhap News

“When they asked ‘Where is this?’, I replied ‘Sokcho, Gangwon Province.’ They just suddenly climbed onto our boat without saying anything about docking. I thought to myself, ‘Who does that?’.”

Fishermen who discovered the small wooden boat carrying four North Korean residents early in the morning on the 24th said, “We’ve never seen a boat like this in Korea,” and “Everything was different from our fishing boats.”

Combining the stories of the Coast Guard and the fishermen, the initial report was made around 7:10 a.m. from a fishing boat located quite a distance from the wooden boat.

Fisherman A, fishing then, reported to the Coast Guard, “There is a strange boat.”

A said, “I had a hunch when it was dark, but I reported it when the sun rose and it became clear. Everything was different from our boats.”

The second report was made about 5 to 10 minutes later by Lim Jae-gil (60), who was fishing alone on another boat near the wooden boat.

Lim described the situation, “While working around 7:15 to 7:20, I saw a strange boat. I was curious because I had never seen such a boat in Korea, so I approached it. It seemed like they were also coming towards me.”

After confirming that the boat was from North Korea, Lim reported the fact to the Sokcho Fishing Boat Safety Operation Center via radio and requested action.

The first thing the man on the wooden boat said to Lim was, “Where is this?”

When Lim replied, “Sokcho, Gangwon Province,” the North Korean man tied the two boats together with a rope and returned to his boat to smoke a cigarette.

Internally thinking, ‘Who does that?’, Lim handed the man a bottle of water and cigarettes. “When I asked, ‘Did you come from the North?’, he didn’t understand. When I asked again, ‘Did you come from North Korea?’ he nodded.”

Just then, a military surveillance aircraft was circling over the wooden boat. Seeing the man looking anxious and constantly at the aircraft, Lim reassured him, saying, “It’s okay. The Coast Guard will be here soon.”

In response to Lim’s question, “When did you get on?” the North Korean man replied, “We got on this morning.”

Lim recalled, “The man was not very talkative. They were whispering among themselves, but they didn’t try to have a big conversation with me. So I just told them they did well to come and that they can live well in Korea.”

Following the advice of the Sokcho Fishing Boat Safety Operation Center to ‘untie the rope and keep a distance just in case’ as the two tied boats were ‘bumping’ into each other, Lim said, “We’re not going anywhere, so let’s untie the rope and float the boats side by side.”

About 20 to 30 minutes after the discovery, the Coast Guard arrived at the scene.

The residents Lim found on the wooden boat were a man, a woman in their 30s, and a woman in her 50s, a total of three people.

The man wore work clothes with oil stains and boots, while the women wore casual clothes. The younger woman wore clean white sneakers, and the older woman wore black shoes.

The man’s face looked salty from the waves. This was also why Lim offered him water and cigarettes, wondering, ‘How many days has he been on the boat?’.

Looking around Lim’s boat, the young woman also said, “Korean boats are really nice.”

Four people were on the wooden boat, and Lim, who later heard they were a family, said, “Judging by the fact that the older woman was repeatedly going in and out of the cabin, it seems there was a child inside.”

The North Korean residents did not express any intention of defecting to Lim.

Lim said, “I’ve been on a boat for over 40 years, but it didn’t look like a boat. I was so curious that I went to see it. It seemed like they had a helicopter engine attached.”

On the 24th, four North Korean residents were discovered by our fishermen in the sea off Sokcho after descending below the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on a small wooden boat. In the afternoon, military authorities tow the small wooden boat to Gisamun Harbor in Yangyang County. / Provided by Yonhap NewsTV

The Sokcho Coast Guard, responding to a fisherman’s report of a ‘strange boat,’ confirmed that four North Korean residents, three women, and one man, were on a 7.5 m (approximately 24.6 feet) long wooden fishing boat and handed them over to the government’s joint intelligence investigation team.

The military, the National Intelligence Service, and related authorities plan to interrogate these individuals to determine their intention to defect jointly.