A North Korean man has been rescued in waters off South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

Early Wednesday morning, a South Korean soldier spotted the 27-year-old North Korean who was drifting on a styrofoam board.
 
He was rescued by a South Korean fishing boat at 7:15 a.m. and handed over to intelligence authorities for questioning to determine whether he was trying to defect to the South or was shipwrecked.

Earlier, on August seventh, three North Koreans defected to the South aboard a small fishing vessel via the Yellow Sea. 
 
Authorities said the North Koreans departed from North Pyongan Province and immediately expressed their intentions to defect to South Korea after they were rescued by South Korean coast guard. They were handed over to the National Intelligence Service for questioning.