Asia-Pacific

DPRK frees fishing crew, including 3 Chinese

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-08 09:18

Crew members (2nd L and 4th L) of a Republic of Korea's  fishing boat, the 55 Daesung, meet their family members upon their return, at a port of the Sokcho Maritime Police in Sokcho, about 290 km (181 miles) northeast of Seoul September 7, 2010. [Agencies]

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has confirmed the release of three Chinese workers onboard a captured fishing boat from the Republic of Korea (ROK), a Chinese diplomat in Pyongyang told Xinhua on Tuesday.

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The DPRK authorities have told the Chinese side that the three Chinese crew members will be returned to ROK so that they could continue their contract with their ROK employer, said the official with the consular section of the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang.

The DPRK decision was based on DPRK-China friendship and humanitarian grounds, the DPRK side was quoted as saying.

The ROK fishing boat "55 Daesung" and its crew members were seized by the DPRK navy on August 8 for alleged trespassing into the exclusive economic zone of the DPRK. There were four ROK crew members and three Chinese on the boat.

The DPRK decided to send the boat and its crew members back to ROK "from the compatriotic and humanitarian points of view," the official news agency KCNA reported on Monday.

The ROK media reported that the fishing boat and its crew members will be returned to ROK on Tuesday afternoon.

The Republic of Korea's fishing boat, the 55 Daesung, arrives in a port of the Sokcho Maritime Police in Sokcho, about 290 km (181 miles) northeast of Seoul September 7, 2010. [Agencies]