The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) sent back a South Korean fisherman Monday afternoon, five days after he crossed the eastern inter-Korean sea border aboard a vessel despite South Korean military fired warning shots to stop him.

A DPRK vessel handed over the South Korean fisherman, Hwang Hong-ryon, together with his 3.9-ton ship, to a South Korean maritime police patrol boat at around 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) in the waters off the coast of a South Korean port named Sokcho, over 200 kilometers east to Seoul, reported the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

"Hwang is scheduled to arrive at Sokcho port at 5:30 p.m. (0830GMT) before being immediately transferred to the maritime police station for joint investigation by military and intelligence officials about his defection," Kim Jin-soo, a maritime police spokesman, was quoted as saying.

Previously, the South Korean military said the 57-year-old Hwang, a resident of Sokcho in Gangwon Province, sailed his boat out of the port last Wednesday without permission from authoritiesand went to the DPRK after drinking too much.

Hwang's activity also aroused public concern over serious loopholes in South Korea's maritime defense capabilities. Four topSouth Korean officers will be disciplined for failing to prevent the defection, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Source: Xinhua