North Korea blasts Seoul as three North Korean sailors repatriated

SEOUL, July 14 (UPI) -- Seoul repatriated two of the five North Korean sailors rescued off the South Korean coast on Tuesday, but Pyongyang has condemned the South's decision to allow the other three to defect.

The two North Koreans who expressed a desire to return were received approximately at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korean news outlet Edaily reported.

Seoul's Unification Ministry said people on the North side came to meet the repatriates. Whether they were family members or interviewers remains unconfirmed, a ministry contact said.

North Korea has expressed its displeasure after the exchange.

Yonhap reported a message from the North Korean Red Cross condemned the South's definition of the three remaining North Koreans as defectors, calling the label an "unjustifiable pretext" to "behave indecently, by rejecting a request for their repatriation."

Seoul has said international conventions were taken into account in its decision not to comply with the North's requests for family visits, or for the personal data of the defectors.

Pyongyang lashed out at Seoul's decision and said South Korea was "slashing the chests of heartbroken families" by refusing the North's request for an audience with the defectors' family members.

"While [Seoul] cries out and says it does not wish families to be scattered, it is rejecting face-to-face visit requests, slashing the chests of heartbroken families who wish to see their own flesh and blood," North Korea said in statement.

The North Korean Red Cross statement claimed the families of the defectors were fainting and collapsing from begging to see their sons and husbands.

In a separate statement, North Korean media outlet KCNA said the refusal to repatriate the remaining North Koreans was a "serious provocation."