The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has released the 16 fishermen it had kept in detention since May 5, the People's Daily quoted an official from the Chinese Embassy in DPRK as saying early Tuesday.

No further details from the embassy were available by press time.

Yu Xuejun, owner of the detained ship, also revealed that he received a call from the ship's captain at 3:50 a.m. Tuesday informing him of their release, according to latest reports.

"The DPRK released our ship and crew and we are about to return," Yu quoted the captain as saying.

According to media reports, private fishing boat "Liaoning Generic Fishing No. 25222" from Dalian City in northeast China's Liaoning Province was seized by the DPRK side, which demanded a ransom of 600,000 yuan (96,774.2 U.S. dollars) on May 5.

Yu called the the Chinese embassy for help on May 10.

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