Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week.

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Unification, justice ministries deny there was legal basis to repatriate N.K. fishermen: lawmaker

SEOUL -- The unification and justice ministries have denied that there was any legal basis for the previous administration's repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019, according to a lawmaker's office on Thursday.

In 2019, the North Koreans confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members and expressed a desire to defect to South Korea. But the then Moon Jae-in government deemed their intentions to be insincere and sent them back to the North where they could have faced harsh punishment.

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S. Korea identifies remains of another Korean War soldier

SEOUL -- South Korea has identified the remains of another soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War following their excavation in North Korea decades ago, the defense ministry said Friday.

The ministry's excavation team recently confirmed the remains of Pfc. Park Jin-ho. They were among those the North handed over to the United States from 1990-94. His remains returned here in 2020, as they were thought to be of a South Korean troop.
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