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Border authorities in the N. Korean port of Kimchaek agreed on Monday to release a Russian cargo ship which was detained by N. Korean coastguards in the Sea of Japan February 23 on accusations of trespassing the country’s border.

At the talks held in the N. Korean city of Chongjin, Russia’s Consul General in N. Korea Yevgeny Valkovich and local border authorities reached an agreement on the prompt release of the vessel, Ria Novosti cited the Consulate General of Russia in Chongjin.

The Lidia Demesh, which was transporting new and used cars from the Japanese port of Hamada to Vladivostok, got caught in a storm and was forced to travel closer to the coast. As a result, the ship was detained three miles off N. Korea’s Cape Musudan by a N. Korean border patrol ship. The vessel with 25 crew members was then convoyed to the port of Kimchaek, a statement from Vladivostok’s Marine and Coordinating Center reported.

The ship’s crew managed to contact the Center’s officials to report the incident, with Primorye’s Department of Russia Federal Security Service, representatives of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vladivostok and the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang receiving the information.

Until Monday, N. Korea’s authorities did not grant permission for Valkovich to meet with the ship’s crew, claiming it was still an ongoing investigation.

The Lidia Demesh will be released by N. Korean border guards as the inspection into the incident finishes, The Vladivostok said.

In early December 2005, the Russian vessel Ternei was seized by Korean border guards for entering the territorial waters of N. Korea while seeking shelter from a storm. The ship was held for two weeks and later released after the involvement of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and Consulate General of Russia in Pyongyang.