Five N.Koreans make rare defection to South

SEOUL - Five North Koreans defected to South Korea on a small fishing boat that was found adrift on the southern side of the heavily guarded nautical border, an army spokesman said on Sunday.

The five defectors were apparently a family of four that included a man in his 30s, identified by his surname Lee, his wife, two children and one other person close the family, the Yonhap news agency reported, quoting army and police officials.

The army spokesman declined to give details about the five. Officials are investigating the matter.

They were on a small vessel that had struck a rock and drifted for two days before being spotted by South Korean vessels off the east coast of the peninsula, Yonhap reported.

Lee told the South Korean officials he had decided to leave the impoverished North after hearing about the possibility of a better life in the South through radio broadcasts, the news agency said.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and the two sides carefully patrol their coastal waters.

Defections by sea from the North are rare because potential defectors run a high risk of being spotted, and then being taken into custody or attacked by North Korean naval vessels.

Defections by land to the South are also rare because both Koreas have hundreds of thousands troops near the Demilitarized Zone that bisects the peninsula. There are numerous land mine fields along the border as well as a razor wire.

Most North Koreans who defect typically cross into China along a less heavily fortified border, and then try to find passage to South Korea.

South Korea almost always grants automatic citizenship to North Korean defectors who arrive in the country. About 1,380 North Koreans defected to the South last year compared with 1,894 in 2004 and 1,139 in 2003, according to South Korean media reports.

- REUTERS