Two North Koreans Including a Soldier Defect to South Korea

Two North Koreans Including a Soldier Defect to South Korea
North Korean soldiers on the border with South Korea on Nov. 27, 2017. (Korea Pool/Getty Images)
Reuters
5/18/2018
Updated:
5/20/2018

SEOUL—Two North Koreans defected to South Korea early on Saturday and were found in the Yellow Sea, Seoul-based news agency Yonhap reported, citing a government source.

Yonhap said that South Korean military spotted two people in a boat near the inter-Korean sea border, one of whom was a military officer, and they showed willingness to defect to the South.

South Korea’s unification ministry was not immediately available for comment.

The defection came after North Korea declined to accept a list of South Korean journalists hoping to observe the closure of its nuclear test site on Friday, raising new questions about the North’s commitment to reducing tensions in the region.

By Dahee Kim and Joori Roh