Foreign Minister Song Min-soon says four North Koreans who drifted to Japan Saturday on a small wooden boat could be allowed to come to South Korea.

He told a meeting with the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers on Jeju Island that a decision will be made based on humanitarian principles and the will of the defectors.

The four North Koreans are known to comprise a family. The parents are said to be in their 60s and have two sons.

They arrived at Japan's Aomori Prefecture and are asking for entry to South Korea.