Rescuers recovered the bodies of two North Korean sailors, pulled three survivors and were searching for 11 others missing after their cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast early Friday, the coast guard said.
The Mongolian-flagged ship was carrying 16 North Korean crew members when it sent a distress signal in international waters about 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the southern port city of Yeosu, South Korea's coast guard said in a statement.
The North Koreans lost their ship and cargo.
The North Koreans survived, denying their government the chance to claim some heroic story for their loss.
The North Koreans had the bad luck to be rescued by South Koreans who occupy land and sea territory that North Korea claims (and recently bombarded the seas in that area).
(As an aside, will any North Korean naval unit be punished for failing to rescue their sailors before South Korea did?)
The North Koreans had the misfortune to receive high quality medical care in modern facilities, which is supposed to be a North Korean monopoly.
The final blow will be that South Korea will return the North Koreans to the north unless the sailors ask to stay in the south.
I imagine anyone allowed to leave North Korea's shores have family members back home who can (and will) be punished if the sailors fail to return home. So there's another bit of bad luck that makes it unlikely that the sailors will ask to stay.
Those survivors are so screwed.
