South Korea Unification Ministry said two out of 200 North Korean fishermen were forcibly deported

South Korean prosecutors reopened a probe regarding the events surrounding the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who attempted to defect to the South back in 2019. The country’s unification ministry revealed that two out of the 200 North Korean fishermen were forcibly repatriated.

The data from South Korea’s unification ministry, which oversees relations with North Korea, showed that among the nearly 200 North Korean fishermen who attempted to defect over the years since 2010, only two were forcibly deported back in 2019.

Since 2010, 276 North Koreans have traveled to the South on 67 occasions, either going adrift at the sea border or being detained after violating the border. Of all of those, 194 returned home, while 82 defected to South Korea. Only two fishermen were designated as “expelled.”

The data surfaced after prosecutors reopened a probe into the case of the two fishermen in the midst of public backlash over the administration of now-former President Moon Jae-in and his handling of their constitutional and human rights.

South Korean authorities usually question all the North Koreans detained or found in the South about how and why they crossed the border. They repatriate those who wish to go back.

Officials in the Moon administration said the two expelled fishermen did not deserve the South’s protection and resettlement support and described them as “grotesque criminals” who killed 16 of their colleagues in a fight on a ship before they crossed the border.

However, human rights and legal experts criticized the forced repatriation of the two fishermen. They said the Moon administration violated the rights of the fishermen by sidestepping their rights to due process. The South Korean constitution defines all North Koreans as citizens of the South.

Last week, South Korean officials said the upcoming high-level visit by foreign minister Park Jin to Japan would help start discussions aimed to make a breakthrough in the historical disputes between the two countries despite concerns following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that may change Japan’s policies.

This comes as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has pledged to improve ties with Japan as relations between both countries have been strained, stemming from Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.