Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Osamu Fujimura says the government may consider the request of nine North Korean defectors to be sent to South Korea, where they originally intended to seek refuge, Japan Today reported on Wednesday.

"By considering precedents, we would like to handle the situation in the most appropriate way," Fujimura was quoted on Japan Today, implying to the first defection case by a North Korean family on June 2, 2007.

The media was briefed that the 2007 defection involved two adult sons and parents who braved the oceans for six days until they reached the Sea of Japan. The family explained to Japanese authorities that they escaped their country due to extreme poverty and food shortages, and requested to be sent to South Korea, where they were gladly welcome by its government.

This time's defection included three school-aged boys, three women, and three men. They were found on board a scantily-made wooden boat by local fishermen who alerted the ninth regional coast guard for the presence of a foreign-looking vessel off Noto Peninsula at 7:30 on Tuesday.

A man who claimed to be the group's leader told the coast guard they hail from North Korea and he is a member of the Korean military. Upon a closer inspection, Daisuke Takahashi, a spokesman for coast guard, told the media the passengers brought provisions such as rice, pickled vegetables, and meager snacks. Although they ran out of water, none from the passengers need immediate medical attention.

The boat, measuring eight meters long and bearing Korean characters, was towed by the coast guard to the port of Kanazawa, west of Tokyo, where the local government announced a temporary landing permit will be issued to the group. All nine passengers stayed overnight on board a coast guard patrol vessel, a related report said.

Of late, there are thousands of North Koreans who consider fleeing to China or South Korea due to extremely ill economic and social conditions. Defection is a sensitive issue between two Koreas, where a Treaty of Truce was mutually agreed after the epic 1950-53 Korean War.