South Korea will repatriate on Sunday a group of people from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) whose "boat strayed into South Korean waters" early last month, the government said Friday.

The previously planned repatriation has been delayed due to a malfunction of the fishing boat scheduled to carry 27 DPRK nationals back home and bad weather conditions.

Four DPRK nationals, who South Korean authorities said "expressed their wish to defect, will not be returned despite repeated protests by Pyongyang."

Before agreeing on the repatriation of only 27 people, Pyongyang had demanded all 31 be sent back and accused Seoul of having forced the four people into defection.