Residents of a remote Kimberley community have described the "unusual" scene of when a man claiming to be South Korean arrived on their beach, asking for fuel.

The man arrived at the picturesque beach at Lombadina, 250 kilometres north of Broome, in a small boat on Sunday.

He has since been taken into custody as authorities try to establish who he is, and how he reached the Australian mainland undetected.

Lombadina community chairman Robert Sibosado said he was among the group who spotted the arrival.

"He was on the beach ... we'd seen the boat before, but we just thought it was someone sailing around," Mr Sibosado said.

"We were trying to talk to him, but we weren't getting much info, because he didn't speak any English.

"But he did say he was South Korean, and he asked for fuel."

Locals notified police, who took the man into custody and transported him to Broome.

He was handed over to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on Thursday.

The federal authority has confirmed the man identified himself as South Korean, but did not have any documentation to prove his identity.

Mr Sibosado said they have not heard anything more about the man, but the boat has been removed.

"Border Force came and got the boat," he said.

"They did it in the night, I heard they towed it to Broome.

"It was a bit unusual. This kind of thing rarely happens, we've had Indonesian fishermen before but that's it."