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A North Korean family defected to South Korea across the western maritime border on Sunday morning aboard a 1-ton boat, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced.
The three were identified as Hong, 42, his wife Moon, 39, and their nine-year-old son. They were said to have left Gumipo in North Korea¡¯s Hwanghae Province at dawn. They were quoted as saying they fled the harsh living conditions in the North.
The Hong family is the second to defect by sea this month after a couple defected to the South in a dinghy on June 17.
The South Korean Navy, meanwhile, allowed a North Korean fishing boat that strayed 1.8 miles south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto western maritime border, at around 11:50 am Sunday, to return to the North after giving crew a gyrocompass.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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