North Korea has criticized the repatriation of only two fishermen among five rescued by the South, saying the defection of the other three was a scheme fabricated by South Korean authorities.
 
The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Tuesday that families and relatives of the fishermen who defected to the South held a press conference at the truce village of Panmunjom.
 
KCNA reported that the families said their flesh and blood would not have betrayed the North. The families then denounced South Korean authorities for breaking apart happy homes and refusing face-to-face meetings.
 
The report said the repatriated fishermen demanded that the defectors also return to the North, but the South had isolated the two groups.
 
Earlier Tuesday, the South Korean government repatriated the two fishermen who wished to return after being rescued from the East Sea on July 4.