TOKYO (Sputnik) — On Saturday, the embassy sent a note demanding explanation from Pyongyang over reports claiming that the North Korean coast guard had detained the Elfin yacht with athletes from Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Territory in the Sea of Japan. Russian Far Eastern transport authorities said that the yacht was in neutral waters at the time of the incident.
"We continue to insist on official response to the embassy's note and on provision of reasons behind the detention [of the yacht]," Denis Samsonov told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in the day, Russia's Consul General in North Korea's Chongjin Yuri Bochkarev held a meeting with the Department for External Relations of the North Hamgyong province's administration over the Elfin yacht's detention. According to Bochkarev, local authorities informed Russian diplomats that the yacht had received a permission to leave North Korea and already cleared the Kimchaek port.
