The Yonhap news agency provided the same information, citing a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul.
The nine defectors made the journey in an engineless boat, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
But both South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and China's People's Daily describe these defectors as lumberjacks.
The man had also previously rammed his truck into the Japanese embassy's gate last year, reports Yonhap news agency.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing unnamed Foreign Ministry officials, says the group were flown back to Pyongyang on Tuesday.
He also received a briefing on the Yeosu World Expo and met the President of Yonhap news agency, Park Jung-chan.
An official from the presidential office told Yonhap news agency it was not yet known whether North Korea was involved.
South Korea's Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North was no longer answering calls to the hotline, reports Yonhap news agency.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the drills will take place Monday or Tuesday in the Yellow Sea off the island.
On Wednesday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that five buildings were directly hit and 22 were damaged during the attack.
CNN: Koreas on 'brink of war' because of Seoul, Pyongyang says
The stoppage has also taken a heavy toll on South Korean firms, Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean President Park Geun-hye as saying.
BBC: South Korea 'to withdraw staff' from Kaesong zone in North
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Hwang Woo-suk, 56, to a two-year prison term, suspended for three years, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The missiles were apparently Scud-type, estimated to have a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
More than 3, 000 riot police moved in to disperse protesters at the Yoosung Enterprise factory in Asan, south of Seoul, Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
But an unnamed ministry official told Yonhap news agency that South Korea had asked UN human rights agencies to help ensure the safety of nine refugees.
When Pyongyang took the action, 573 South Koreans were staying at the Kaesong industrial complex, north of the demilitarized zone, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
Standard Chartered told Korea's Yonhap news agency that the local auditor, Samil Accounting, had failed to explain exactly how the insolvency of SK had come about.
The last time the joint forces raised the surveillance alert was after North Korea's last nuclear test in 2006, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
CNN: South Korean, U.S. forces raise surveillance alert level
As the Korean peninsula is not prone to seismic activity, this is highly likely to indicate a nuclear test, says the Korean Yonhap news agency.
"We have given permission for the visit and can even discuss the shipment of products at the industrial complex, " Yonhap news agency quoted the committee as saying.
Doctors told South Korea's state-run Yonhap News Agency that it is impossible to tell the status of Kim's health from the recent video of the reclusive leader.
"I believe it was a tragic incident for Koreans when they were deprived of their nation and their identity, " Okada said, according to the Yonhap news agency.
On his visit, Mr Chung said the South Korean military should be on "high alert to respond to any types of North Korean provocations", reports Yonhap news agency.
South Korea's central bank followed the lead taken by other central banks a day earlier, slashing its key interest rate by a quarter percent, the Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the corporation hoped to exploit deposits of iron ore, gold and copper in other parts of the Tanzania to help fund its project.
An official in Seoul said the North has moved two more launchers to its east coast for a possible test firing of short-range Scud missiles, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
The two sides had decided to reschedule the meeting "to maintain a firm defense readiness amid the current security situation, " South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a Joint Chiefs of Staff official as saying.
On Friday, North Korea fired two short-range missiles, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, a test that appeared to be a response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises under way in the region.
WSJ: U.S. to Boost Missile Defenses in Response to North Korea
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that a check of its archives turned up two instances in which a young girl named Ri Sol Ju attended inter-Korean events in the North in 2003 and 2004.
"As the additional pieces are salvaged, we will be able to look deeper into the function and structure of North Korea's long-range rocket, " an official was quoted as saying by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
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