South Korea sends back North Koreans who drifted on wooden boats across border
South Korea returns North Koreans who arrived on wooden boats
- South Korea repatriated six North Koreans across the sea border on Wednesday, months after they had drifted south in wooden boats.
- The repatriation followed months of failed efforts by South Korea to contact Pyongyang to coordinate the return of the individuals, who consistently expressed a desire to go back.
- Despite the lack of direct communication, a North Korean patrol boat appeared at the handover point, despite the breakdown in inter-Korean relations since 2019.
- Relations between the Koreas have worsened since 2022, marked by North Korea's accelerated nuclear and missile programmes and recent border tensions involving trash-filled balloons and propaganda broadcasts.
- South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, is attempting to rebuild trust by halting frontline loudspeaker broadcasts and moving to ban activist-flown propaganda balloons.