A North Korean vessel stranded near the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the East Sea was towed away by North Korean authorities several hours after it was spotted by the South Korean military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.

The 10-meter-long vessel was spotted by a South Korean patrol ship while drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line at 2:16 p.m. Sunday, according to the JCS.

"It is known that the North Korean authorities towed away the drifting vessel last night," JCS spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said in a press briefing.

The people on board the North Korean ship, suspected to be a commercial vessel, said they had been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.

The JCS said the South Korean military provided food and water on "humanitarian grounds" and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.

Lee said the South Korean military disclosed the operation to the media to assist the ship's rescue and prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas in the process of delivering humanitarian aid to the people aboard the ship.

"We informed them that the people aboard the North Korean ship had no intention of defecting to ensure that they would not be punished after returning to North Korea," a military official said.

The incident came just five days after a North Korean vessel carrying suspected defectors crossed the eastern NLL into South Korean waters. A joint investigation has been under way to look into their exact motive for crossing into South Korea. (Yonhap)