FUKAURA, Japan, June 2 (UPI) -- Four people thought to be North Koreans crossed the Sea of Japan in a small boat to Japan, where they are seeking political asylum, it was reported Saturday.
It apparently is the first time in 20 years so-called boat people have landed in Japan seeking to defect, the Kyodo news service reported.
The four adults, apparently members of a family in their 20s to 60s from the North Korea-China border area, were taken into custody on suspicion of violating immigration laws.
They apparently left from a port near Chongjin, North Korea, May 27 in a 22-foot open motor-powered boat, arriving Saturday in Fukaura, Japan. While their nationality was not clear, they spoke to investigators in Korean and said they were from North Korea and wanted to go South Korea to escape poverty.
The boat contained food but no weapons, police said.
The Japanese Coast Guard said the last time a North Korean boat arrived in Japan was in January 1987, when 11 North Koreans sought to defect to South Korea. North Korea asked Japan to send them back, but they were sent to Taiwan where they defected to South Korea.
