Post by : Meena Ariff

Photo: AP

Recently, South Korea sent back six North Koreans who had accidentally entered South Korean waters earlier this year. These six people had been asking South Korean officials again and again to send them back to their country.

Who were these six people?

Two of them were North Koreans who had drifted into South Korean waters in March. They stayed in South Korea for four months, which is the longest time recorded for any North Koreans who did not want to stay permanently. Usually, people who drift into South Korea are either sent back quickly or choose to stay in South Korea as defectors. But these two people wanted to return home.

The other four people were sailors. They crossed the disputed sea border between North and South Korea in May while they were sailing. They also did not plan to enter South Korean waters but drifted off course due to the sea currents.

Why was it special this time?

This was the first time such a return happened under South Korea's new president, Lee Jae-myung. During his election campaign, he promised that he would try to improve relations with North Korea and reduce tensions between the two countries. However, sending these six people back was not easy.

Why was it difficult to send them back?

In the past, North and South Korea used to work together to send back North Koreans who accidentally crossed into the South. Usually, they would send them back by land through the border village of Panmunjom. But things have changed recently.

In April 2023, North Korea cut off all official communication with South Korea because of rising tensions between the two countries. Later that year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that unification with South Korea was no longer possible. This made it even harder to arrange for the return of people.

Now, the only ways both countries can communicate are through the United Nations Command led by the US or by sending messages through the media. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said that they tried two times to inform North Korea about their plan to send these six people back through the United Nations Command. However, North Korea did not reply to those messages.

How did the return happen?

On Wednesday morning, South Korean officials noticed North Korean patrol boats and fishing boats near the handover point in the sea. This made some experts think that both countries might have agreed secretly on how to carry out the return without officially announcing it.

An expert named Nam Sung-wook said that if a boat is set adrift in the ocean without any plan, it could float away again and the people might get lost. That is why he thinks both countries must have made a plan behind the scenes.

What will happen to them in North Korea?

Experts believe that these six people will be questioned very strictly after they reach North Korea. Officials there will ask them many questions to find out if they received any training to become spies or if they learned any secrets while they were in South Korea. This questioning process will be very tough and intense to ensure they are not bringing any dangerous information back.

After this investigation, they might also be asked to help the government in spreading propaganda. A professor named Lim Eul-chul said that when people willingly return to North Korea, it helps the North Korean government show its people that their country is better and that people do not want to live in South Korea.

What do other North Korean defectors say?

Some North Korean defectors living in South Korea felt sad about this return. An activist named Lee Min-bok said that these six people should have been given a chance to talk to defectors and learn the truth about life in South Korea before going back. Mr. Lee used to send balloons with leaflets criticising the North Korean government across the border. He said he would have told them about the real history and warned them that they might be punished in North Korea just because they lived in the South, even for a short time.

However, Mr. Lee and his team have stopped sending such balloons now because they expect the new South Korean government to take strict action against such activities.

What is the South Korean government doing now?

Right now, South Korea’s parliament is discussing a law to ban people from sending balloons with messages into North Korea. President Lee Jae-myung, who became president in June, wants to start new talks with North Korea to reduce tensions. Just one week after taking office, he stopped the loudspeaker broadcasts that South Korea used to play along the border to send messages to North Korea. He said this would help build trust and bring peace between the two countries.

Will relations between North and South Korea improve?

Some experts think that relations between the two countries will not improve soon. They say North Korea is working closely with Russia now and does not feel the need to talk to South Korea. Also, many people in South Korea do not want to have talks with the North.

A professor named Celeste Arrington said that because of this, there are very few chances of both countries starting communication again or improving their relationship shortly.