Five North Koreans defect by boat

More than 1,000 North Koreans defect every year

Five North Koreans have fled to South Korea in a small fishing boat, avoiding detection along one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.

Their vessel was found adrift in South Korean waters on Saturday.

The five, who are believed to include four members of the same family, have applied for asylum, the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, said.

They told officials that they decided to defect after hearing on the radio that life in the South was better.

'Gone fishing'

The five - a man in his 30s, his wife, two children and a family friend - are being questioned by military and intelligence officials, a defence ministry official said.

The group is said to have left the North Korean port of Tongchon on Friday evening, pretending to go fishing.

Their boat struck a rock and drifted for two days before being spotted by South Korean vessels off the east coast of the peninsula, Yonhap reported.

More than 1,000 North Koreans flee to the South every year, usually through Chinese territory.

North Korea and South Korea are still technically at war, after the 1950-53 war, which left the Korean peninsula divided, ended with an armistice.