A laptop computer and smartphone were discovered in a fishing boat carrying two North Koreans who confessed to killing 16 other crewmembers before fleeing to South Korea.

The two were surreptitiously deported last week instead of facing trial here, even though the Constitution stipulates that they are in theory considered South Korean citizens if they want to defect.

The National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Monday that a Lenovo laptop and North Korean-made smartphone were found on the boat, according to a source in the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee. The NIS also found an American GPS device and 8-gigabyte SD card. That suggests they could have been on a spying mission before they were caught and told their bizarre story, but the NIS denied this.

Also found on the boat were 40 bags of dried squid, 95 kg of rice, 10 kg of corn flour, 25 pieces of clothing, medicine and two North Korean banknotes.

The laptop contained propaganda songs and videos as well as information on squid fishing, but 55 photos taken on the smartphone on the journey south showed no evidence of spying, the NIS added. It is very rare for North Korean fishing boats to carry a laptop.

