South Korea deported the first North Koreans since the 1950s after discovering that the two murdered 16 fellow crew members on board their fishing vessel.
The two men, both in their 20s, were captured by South Korean officials at the eastern sea border between North and South Korea. It was quickly discovered that the duo had killed the captain of their fishing boat and then murdered 15 other crew members to cover up the crime, according to the New York Post.
A third crew member was also complicit in the crimes, but he was captured after the group first tried to return to their home country. Fearing retribution, the two men fled south, claiming that they wanted to leave North Korea and move to South Korea.
South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min said that duo was sent back to the hermit dictatorship because they were “heinous criminals.” They will likely be punished harshly upon their return and could be executed.
The deportation was historic as it marked the first time that South Korea returned North Korean citizens since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Some 23,000 North Koreans have fled since then.
