Five North Korean civilians, including a family of four, have defected to South Korea by taking a small ship across the heavily guarded sea border on the East Sea.

On 11:23 p.m. on Saturday, South Korean guards on duty at a post near the east coast port city of Goseong in Gangwon Province found the North Koreans, who expressed their intention to defect to the South, Seoul’s military officials said Sunday.

The group included a 37-year-old man, his 34-year-old wife, and their two children, aged 2 and eight. The other North Korean was a 26-year-old man who investigators said was a friend of the family.

According to investigators, the North Koreans left Tongcheonan Port on the North's east coast on Friday night aboard a 21-ton wooden barge after reporting to the North Korean authorities that they were going fishing. After taking a break at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, they made their way near a seashore guard post in the South to express their intention to defect.