SEOUL, South Korea — Three North Korean sailors have defected to South Korea after their ship strayed into the South’s waters over the weekend, the government here said Tuesday.

A North Korean ship with five sailors on board was found adrift on Saturday in waters near Ulleungdo, an island off the northeast coast of South Korea, the Unification Ministry in the South said in a news release. Their ship was sinking when the South Korean Coast Guard came to their rescue, the statement said.

Three of the five sailors told South Korean officials that they wanted to defect, the ministry said, while the others expressed wishes to return home.

The South told the North on Monday that it would send the two home on Tuesday through Panmunjom, a village along the border that serves as a contact point between the two nations.