Pyongyang released a South Korean fishing boat and its crew on Tuesday. Among the crew members were four South Korean and three Chinese fishermen who were held captive for a month.
The 41-ton boat was captured on Aug. 8 after the vessel crossed into the North’s exclusive economic zone.
The release came amid North Korea’s request to Seoul for humanitarian aid, including rice, cement, and heavy machinery, to help it recover from its recent devastating floods.
The South Korean Unification Ministry said they did not negotiate with the North over the detained fishing boat, however, and that the issues were being carried separately, Associated Press reported.
The South is disinclined to send rice and other resources as aid to the North, for fear that Pyongyang will use such assistance for military purposes rather than humanitarian goals.
“Providing construction equipment would be an unrealistic option for the South because there is possibility that it could later be used for military purposes. Cement wouldn’t draw too much controversy,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul-based University of North Korean Studies, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.
Both Koreas have remained in a state of war since the Korean War ended with a ceasefire in 1953.
Following an international investigation which found that North Korea sank a South Korean ship, the North denied the accusations and threatened that any punitive sanctions would trigger war.
The United States and South Korea are carrying out joint military exercises aimed at deterring North Korea’s provocative statements. Both military forces have already held several military drills over the last several months.
