Five North Koreans who crossed into the South across the heavily guarded maritime border via a boat on July 1 have expressed their willingness to defect, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) said on Thursday.

The East Regional Headquarters of the Korea Coast Guard confirmed to NK News on Thursday that four men and one woman were found by the South Korean maritime police at 1830 KST on Saturday.

“We brought them to [South Korea] as they indicated their willingness to defect when they were found,” police sergeant Hong Deok-pyo of the East Regional Headquarters said.

The maritime police handed over