2 South Koreans, 15 Russians return safely to S. Korea after 11 days of detention in N. Korea

Two South Koreans and 15 Russians detained in North Korea were returned to South Korea on Sunday afternoon.They'd been held after their fishing ship broke down and drifted into North Korean waters earlier this month.Despite continued requests to repatriate the South Koreans, Seoul says it was not informed by the North over their return.Oh Jung-hee reports.After 11 days of detention in North Korea, 2 South Koreans and 15 Russians safely returned to South Korea's eastern port city of Sokcho on Sunday afternoon.They were caught by the North in mid-July... as their fishing ship Xiang Hai Lin broke down and accidentally drifted into North Korean waters without giving prior notification to the regime.15 Russian crew members and two South Korean fishing supervisors were aboard the ship.The ship left from North Korea's eastern port city of Wonsan on Saturday evening following its release.The Seoul government learned of the fact later that night.South Korea's unification ministry says there was no notification from the North or official report on the state media about the crew's return.This means... even though Seoul had been requesting through the joint liaison office that Pyeongyang repatriate the South Koreans, there was no reply through the contact office until the moment they returned.According to Seoul, the crew and their ship's return comes after the North completed its own investigation on the ship.But there's still more to be analyzed from here on like how they came to be detained, how their release came about,... and how their ship was fixed.Seoul says, from a humanitarian point of view, it's positive that the North returned the ship and crew members safely.It added, the incident won't impact inter-Korean relations as it's a humanitarian issue resolved in accordance with international law.Two South Korean men, one in his fifties and one in his sixties, are both in good health.Now that they've come back, they'll go through medical check-ups and a joint intelligence probe by government agencies.Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.