The government has sent North Korea a notice urging it to return from a humanitarian standpoint a South Korean fishing vessel and its crew as soon as possible.

A spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry in Seoul said the notice was sent to the North in the name of the Red Cross via an inter-Korean military communication line on Wednesday.

Seoul also asked Pyongyang to give detailed information on the specifics of the ship’s seizure.

North Korea has yet to make any official announcement in regards to the detainment of the boat.

With four South Korean and three Chinese fishermen aboard, the 41-ton "Daeseung" is presumed to have been towed to Songjin Port in North Hamgyeong Province by North Korean authorities on Sunday while fishing for squid in the North’s exclusive economic zone in the East Sea.