4 suspected North Korean defectors found in small boat in South Korean waters

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials say suspected North Korean defectors were found in a small wooden boat near the two Koreas’ sea border. Defections by North Koreans have been a sore point in relations between the two Koreas. South Korea accepts those who choose to resettle in the South, but North Korea often says its people are held against their will in the South and demand they be returned. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid poverty and political oppression since the late 1990s. A vast majority of them have come via China and then Southeast Asian countries, and defecting by sea is uncommon.