Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Nine North Koreans defected to the South by boat over the weekend, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. The group made the border crossing Saturday in the Yellow Sea off the west of the Korean peninsula, according to the JCS. The nine defectors made the journey in an engineless boat and are being questioned by South Korean authorities about their motives and their route, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The development comes four months after a group of 31 North Koreans accidentally crossed over into South Korean waters on a fishing boat. Four members of that group decided to defect to the South, despite Pyongyang's demands that they all be repatriated to the North, the South Korean Red Cross said in March.
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The group makes the border crossing over the weekend in the Yellow Sea
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They travel in a boat with no engine
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South Korean authorities are questioning them about their motives
Many defectors who live in South Korea fear for the lives of their family or relatives who remain in the @placeholder.