SEOUL, South Korea • South Korea deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday after determining they had killed 16 other crew members on their boat and then fled to South Korean waters, Seoul officials said.

South Korea has a policy of accepting North Koreans who want to resettle in the South to avoid political oppression and poverty at home. This week’s deportations were the first South Korea has carried out of any North Korean who came to the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War

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The two North Koreans, both men in their 20s, were captured in their boat south of the countries’ eastern sea border last Saturday, according to the Unification Ministry.

It said a South Korean investigation later found the two had killed 16 colleagues, including the captain.

Ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min said South Korea decided to expel the two fishermen because they were “heinous criminals” who could not be recognized as refugees under international laws. According to the investigation, 19 people were aboard the squid fishing boat when it left the North’s Kimchaek port in August. While fishing in waters near Russia and elsewhere, the two men collaborated with another crew member and killed the captain, who they said had abused them. The trio later killed 15 other fishermen.