The North Korean government has captured North Korean ‘pirates’ in the nearby East Sea, an unnamed source told South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday.

Based out of a port in Hongwon, Hamgyeongnam-do, the ‘pirates’ attacked North Korean ships and fishing boats and merchant ships from China and Russia over a period of four years, the paper said, before being arrested by North Korean authorities for causing damage to the DPRK’s foreign trade.

But one expert familiar with the issue disputes that ‘pirates’ were at all involved in the case.

“I suppose the Chosun Ilbo might classify all North Korean