A group of 21 North Korean escapees are being investigated after they were found aboard a wooden ship in the Yellow Sea earlier last Sunday.

South Korean Naval authorities said Saturday that a Navy vessel found the five-ton boat some 42 kilometers west of Daecheong Island and some 34 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line at 3:20 a.m.

The Naval authorities had the North Koreans, including children, transported to Incheon where they have since been interrogated regarding their escape from their homeland.

The North Koreans have all reportedly expressed wishes to defect to South Korea.