July 24 (UPI) -- North Korea has detained the crew of a Russian fishing vessel, including two South Koreans, and South Korea is pressing for the release of its citizens from North Korean custody.
Pyongyang has not responded to requests, Yonhap reported Wednesday.
Seoul's unification ministry said it is in communication with Russian authorities and has been using an inter-Korea channel to send messages.
"Currently, [South Korean] citizens have been confirmed as safe," the ministry said Wednesday. "We are doing our best to confirm the safety of our citizens and in close consultation with Russian authorities confirming their safety."
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The detained South Korean crew are staying at a hotel in Wonsan, North Korea, and are under investigation, according to Yonhap.
According to Seoul and the Russian embassy in South Korea, the Russia-flagged Xiang Hai Lin-8 left from the South Korean port city of Sokcho at 7 p.m. on July 16. The boat was headed to Zarubino, a port in the Russian Far East, when it was apprehended in the East Sea.
North Korea said the crew was taken for "violating the rules of entry and stay" in North Korea, Russia's embassy said.
The vessel was fishing for snow crabs. It included 15 Russians. The two Korean crew members were in their 50s and 60s, and were contractors who had boarded the ship to provide technical guidance.
North Korea is detaining the ship's crew at a time when it is showing a lack of willingness to cooperate with the South on humanitarian aid.
Seoul pledged to donate 50,000 tons of rice but the North may have rejected the assistance, citing U.S.-South Korea joint exercises to be held in August.
Tongil News reported Seoul is confirming with the World Food Program whether the North is rejecting the food aid, following a report from a local South Korean paper North Korean officials told the WFP they are turning down the donation.
North Korea has said a severe drought has heavily affected crops.
