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7 North Koreans Sail to South Korea

   VOA News 22 December 2009

   South  Korean media say seven North Koreans have sailed to South Korea
   on a small boat over the disputed Yellow Sea border.
   The  Yonhap  news  agency  said  Coast  Guard officers found the group
   Monday  afternoon  after  they crossed the border off of South Korea's
   western coast.
   Authorities were questioning the North Koreans about whether they were
   defecting or simply drifted to the south by accident.
   The  incident  comes  as  North  Korea on Monday designated the border
   waters  a "firing zone" and warned South Korea's military to stay out.
   The  two  Koreas have had two naval clashes in the contested waters in
   the past decade.
   South Korea's Unification Ministry says more than 16,000 North Koreans
   have  defected  to  the South since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
   Almost all of those have come over the past 10 years.

   South  Korean media say seven North Koreans have sailed to South Korea
   on  a  small boat over the disputed Yellow Sea border. The Yonhap news
   agency  said  Coast  Guard  officers  found the group Monday afternoon
   after  they  crossed  the  border  off of South Korea's western coast.
   Authorities were questioning the North Koreans about whether they were
   defecting  or  simply  drifted  to the south by accident. The incident
   comes  as North Korea on Monday designated the border waters a "firing
   zone"  and  warned  South Korea's military to stay out. The two Koreas
   have had two naval clashes in the contested waters in the past decade.
   South Korea's Unification Ministry says more than 16,000 North Koreans
   have  defected  to  the South since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
   Almost all of those have come over the past 10 years.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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