PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has announced it would release a fishing boat of the Republic of Korea on Friday, which was captured last Saturday for illegally intruding into waters in the East Sea of Korea under the control of DPRK side.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said late Thursday that according to a relevant institution, a fishing boat of the ROK was captured for deliberately intruding into the DPRK waters for fishing.

"However, the DPRK side decided to repatriate the boat and its crew from the humanitarian point of view, taking into account the fact that all the crewmen honestly admitted their offence, repeatedly apologizing and asking for leniency," said the KCNA.

DPRK authorities will repatriate the boat and its crew at the designated waters of the military boundary line in the East Sea Friday afternoon, it said.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul remain tense as DPRK accuses the ROK of following the United States in pressurizing its northern neighbor for its nuclear and missile programs with joint military exercises and economic sanctions.