SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday that it would repatriate a South Korean fishing boat it detained for crossing the eastern sea border, a rare humanitarian gesture at a time of military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean boat, 391 Hungjin, was captured at dawn on Saturday when it illegally crossed the maritime border, known as the Northern Limit Line, off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday. The boat deliberately intruded into North Korean waters for fishing, the news agency said. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyThere was no immediate official reaction from the South Korean government. But government officials in Seoul, the South Korean capital, said that the 39-ton, blowfish boat went missing on Saturday night with 10 crew members — seven South Koreans and three Vietnamese — on board.

Source: New York Times October 27, 2017 01:51 UTC