Japanese and South Korean authorities joined forces to rescue North Korean sailors who fell overboard from one of two vessels that sank off the coast of Japan while being towed by the DPRK-flagged Kum Ya freighter en route to Wonsan last week.

The first of the two towed vessels sank around 104 kilometers west-southwest of Nishinoshima Island in Shimane Prefecture at around 3 a.m. KST on Thursday, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) said in one of several press releases to NK News on Friday. 

Of the four sailors that fell overboard, two were rescued alive, one was found in cardiac