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S. Korea to seek to repatriate 2 N. Korean fishermen

South Korea was to attempt to repatriate two out of five rescued North Korean fishermen Tuesday, with Pyongyang demanding Seoul send back home all sailors, including the three who want to defect to the South.

The South said it plans to seek to repatriate the two fishermen who have expressed their hope to go home via the truce village of Panmunjom later in the day, according to the Unification Ministry.

But it is not clear whether the North will take them into custody as the North has called on the South to send all five sailors back home who were found drifting on a vessel due to engine failure and rescued by the South's Coast Guard off the east coast on July 4.

North Korea's Red Cross said Monday it will send relevant officials, along with the family members of the three fishermen, to the truce village on Tuesday to take them all into custody.

The North has urged the South to reveal the identities of those wishing to defect and to allow their families to meet with them, a move that Seoul has rejected on humanitarian grounds.

Pyongyang has threatened to take "stern" actions against Seoul if the South does not send all of them back to the North.

Tension on the divided peninsula remains high over North Korea's provocative actions, including its launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine in May.

Despite such tension, the two Koreas have a practice of repatriating civilians who accidentally land in each other's territory.

In what could be seen as a conciliatory tit-for-tat, South Korea sent home five rescued North Korean fishermen on humanitarian grounds on June 18.

A day earlier, the North repatriated two South Koreans who allegedly sneaked into the communist nation in May during their trip to China. (Yonhap)