South Korea’s military has disclosed that it found four North Koreans in a boat that drifted over the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea last week.

An official said Thursday that the military spotted the small wooden boat about 100 kilometers east of Goseong, Gangwon Province, on the morning of May 27 and took measures in cooperation with the Coast Guard.

The four North Koreans are reportedly insisting on being returned home.

The South’s Unification Ministry, which is tasked to manage inter-Korean matters, an investigation is under way regarding the North Koreans, and that if they wish, Seoul will begin proceeding to repatriate them back to the North.

Previously, on March 7, the military discovered a similar North Korean boat drifting beyond the maritime boundary in the West Sea with two people on board who asked to be repatriated to the North.

The South Korean government attempted to start the repatriation process through a direct line between the United Nations Command and the North Korean military, but for months the North has not responded.

Pyongyang has cut communications with Seoul since the end of 2023, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared the two Koreas were two separate countries in a hostile relationship with each other.

There is a possibility that repatriation negotiations will pick up again under President Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to pursue inter-Korean dialogue.