2011-03-08 16:59

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) on Tuesday made it clear it would not budge on the repatriation of a group of people from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) whose boat strayed into the south of the border early last month.

In a message delivered Tuesday to the DPRK authorities, the Red Cross officials of ROK reaffirmed their position that they would repatriate only 27 of the 31 DPRK people and not four who have expressed their wish to stay in South Korea, the unification ministry said.

The officials here urged the DPRK counterparts to "take necessary measures" to receive 27 DPRK nationals and reiterated that they are willing to confirm the free will of the four people in question in a "fair, objective" manner, according to the ministry, which oversees inter-Korean affairs.

The DPRK a day ago proposed holding working-level Red Cross talks on Wednesday and requested the four people wishing to defect be present at the meeting, while ROK practically turned down the request.

Seoul's attempt last Friday to return 27 people home failed as the DPRK authorities demanded repatriation of all its nationals. Officials here have cited humanitarian reasons for not sending all 31 people back to the DPRK.