North Korea frees Russian fishing boat
July 28, 2019
North Korea has released a Russian fishing boat after it was detained for violating entry regulations, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said on Sunday.
"At 19:30, the vessel left the Wonsan port's pier and headed to Sokcho (South Korea), where two South Korean crewmembers will come ashore," it said.
South Korea's unification ministry, said the boat arrived in Sokcho on Sunday afternoon.
The boat was fishing for crab and had traveled from South Korea to the Sea of Japan on July 17 when it was seized, some 100 kilometers (55 nautical miles) from the North Korean coast.
The boat's 15 Russian and two South Korean crew members were detained in the port of Wonsan and faced accusations of entering North Korean territorial waters without permission.
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Moscow has insisted that the boat, belonging to the Russian North-Eastern Fishing Company, did not breach any law. In retaliation, the Kremlin threatened to freeze talks with the North on fisheries cooperation.
Russia's RIA news agency had earlier cited Russia's fisheries agency as saying shipping data showed Pyongyang's action had been illegal.
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Russia, which neighbors North Korea, has relatively close diplomatic relations with the isolated communist state dating back to the Soviet era.
The Russian coast guard frequently detains North Korean fishermen in the Far East, many of whom use rudimentary wooden boats. Some of them have received prison sentences.
Ties between the Koreas remain cool, however, amid a lack of progress in US-led diplomacy aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program.
mm/amp (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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