A group of three North Koreans presumed to be a family crossed the inter-Korean borderline via the West Sea in a small boat Sunday morning.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Navy detected and intercepted a one-ton metal boat 4.8 kilometers northeast of Baengnyeong Island at around 9:55 a.m. and towed it into the Port of Ongi on the island.

The JCS said 42-year-old Hong, 39-year-old Moon, and a 9-year-old boy on board immediately expressed their desire to defect to the South upon being intercepted by the Navy.

They had reportedly left from the Port of Gumi, North Korea, on Saturday morning in order to escape the poverty rampant in the famine-stricken nation.

Meanwhile, a North Korean fishing boat accidentally crossed the northern limit line in the West Sea at around 11:55 am Sunday morning.

The Navy said it provided the boat's crew a mariner’s compass as a humanitarian gesture before sending the boat back to the North.