By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
The two Koreas were on a new collision course Wednesday over the status of three North Koreans who were rescued by South Korean coast guard officers last weekend.
Five fishermen in all were found drifting off the South’s east coast on Saturday, close to Ulleung Island. Seoul’s unification ministry previously announced that two of them wanted to be repatriated, while three wished to defect.
The ministry said it would follow the protocol of allowing citizens from the North to seek refuge in South Korea, much to the disappointment of Pyongyang.
“Seoul should immediately send them back to the North,” read a statement from North Korea’s Red Cross according to state-run website Uriminzokkiri.
The reclusive state also warned that it would take “stern actions” if the South does not repatriate all of the fishermen.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have defected in recent decades to South Korea, often making a risky trip over land through China because the inter-Korean border is so heavily guarded.
The two sides remain in a state of conflict technically as they never signed a peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean War.
Meanwhile, a separate official North Korean media outlet carried a threat to cancel next month’s planned visit by former South Korean first lady Lee Hee-ho.
Only two days earlier, the 93-year-old’s representatives had finalized the trip in an attempt to improve inter-Korean ties -- Lee’s late husband Kim Dae-jung famously became the first South Korean president to hold a summit with a North Korean leader in 2000.
A spokesperson for the North’s committee that arranged Lee’s scheduled visit was quoted by KCNA news agency as insisting that the plan is still tentative and could be abandoned if the South continues to “make provocations.”
