A Russian yacht with three people on board has apparently been intercepted by North Korea. Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang has confirmed that it is now in the port in the city of Rason, which is in the northern part of the country.
The Russian sailing sport federation said earlier that a yacht named the Katalexa had likely been seized by a North Korean ship en route from Taiwan to Vladivostok in Russia. The federation said the ship was intercepted in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan sometime after leaving the South Korean city of Pohang, where she had been undergoing repairs.
“At the moment Yury Bochkarev, the consul-general in Chongjin, is heading to the port of Rajin [in Rason], where the Russian yacht has been staying since yesterday,” the embassy told RIA Novosti. “He will try to contact crew members and talk to them.”
The embassy said the Katalexa was brought to the North Korean port on Thursday night. Russian diplomats say they were not given any explanation about how exactly the Russian ship ended up there.
Rason is a located in North Korea’s northernmost Kwanbuk region on the Pacific coast, bordering Russia and China.
