The government has released photographs taken in November 2019 at the truce village of Panmunjeom during the repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who sought to defect to South Korea.

The unification ministry released the pictures to the press on Tuesday, saying that it had submitted the photos to the National Assembly at its request.

The ministry said it customarily takes pictures of repatriations of North Korean escapees at Panmunjeom.

The photos show the two North Korean men being handed over to the North via the Military Demarcation Line. In one shot, one of the men is seen pulling back in an attempt to not cross the line.

At the time, the government decided to send the two men back after determining that they killed 16 fellow crew members on board a fishing vessel before expressing their intent to defect to the South.