South Korea on Wednesday returned six North Korean men who had drifted into its waters earlier this year, the Unification Ministry said. The group, rescued in separate incidents in March in the Yellow Sea and in May in the East Sea, had repeatedly expressed a wish to go home. The wooden boat carrying the men crossed the Northern Limit Line at 8:56 a.m. and met a North Korean patrol vessel at 9:24 a.m. before proceeding north, according to ministry officials. Seoul coordinated the transfer through the United Nations Command; Pyongyang did not formally reply but dispatched a patrol craft to the agreed rendez-vous point. All six individuals—described by officials as fishermen in their 30s and 40s—were interviewed multiple times by South Korean authorities, the UN Command Military Armistice Commission and neutral observers to confirm their voluntary return. Seoul supplied fuel and cleaned existing engine parts for the voyage but provided no new equipment, citing UN sanctions that bar exports of machinery to the North. The hand-over is the first under President Lee Jae Myung, who took office on 4 June pledging to seek dialogue with Pyongyang. While analysts cautioned against viewing the operation as a broader thaw in relations, the encounter marked a rare, if limited, instance of direct coordination between the two Koreas since official communication channels were severed in 2023.