(VOVworld) – South Korea on Monday repatriated eight North Korean fishermen who were rescued last week while drifting in waters off the country's east coast.

A helicopter of South Korea’s navy (Photo: Yonhap)

Seoul's Unification Ministry said the fishermen were sent back to the North on two vessels across the de facto inter-Korean maritime border, known as the Northern Limit Line. Earlier, North Korean fishermen on two boats drifting offshore were also rescued by South Korea's Coast Guard. The fishermen said they went out to the sea in 3 fishing boats in September and had an incident when one of their boats' engines broke down.