TOKYO (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, reports emerged claiming that North Korea’s coast guard had detained the Elfin yacht carrying athletes from Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Territory in the Sea of Japan/East Sea. Russian Far Eastern transport authorities said that the yacht was in neutral waters at the time of the incident.
"The Russian embassy has passed on to the North Korean side a note of protest demanding immediate liberation of the crew," Denis Samsonov told RIA Novosti.
The vessel arrived in the Kimchaek port in North Korea earlier Saturday.
