It was revealed that a wooden boat carrying North Korean residents drifted past the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea and was discovered by our military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff noted, "On the morning of the 27th last month, a small North Korean wooden boat was identified 100 kilometers east of Goseong, Gangwon, south of the NLL. The military coordinated with the Coast Guard to handle it." There were four people on board, and the military handed them over to related agencies. It is reported that those on the wooden boat requested repatriation to the North.
In March, the military found a North Korean wooden boat drifting across the NLL in the West Sea and handed it over to the authorities. The two North Korean residents on board requested repatriation to the North. In response, our government attempted to communicate using the "Pink Phone," a direct line between United Nations Command and the North Korean military. However, the North remained unresponsive, resulting in nearly three months without repatriation.
Since the end of 2023, when Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission defined the inter-Korean relationship as "hostile relations between two states," North Korea has not responded to communication with the South.