PYONGYANG -- Ten of the 27 Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) citizens who returned after being "kidnapped by the Republic of Korean (ROK) navy" earlier this year told a press conference here Thursday they had been inhumanly treated.

They told the media at the People's Palace of Culture details about how the ROK navy "kidnapped" them and strongly condemned its "inhuman act" against them.

They stressed four others who were still in ROK were loyal to the motherland and top leader Kim Jong-il.

DPRK leader Kim Jong-il (C) visits the newly-built Susongchon General Foodstuff Factory in North Hamgyong province, in this undated picture released by DPRK's official news agency KCNA on April 21, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

On February 5, thirty-one DPRK fishermen drifted into ROK waters due to thick fog while fishing at sea.

After being detained for more than a month, 27 were sent home on March 27, but ROK said the remaining four had "defected" and would not return.

The DPRK Red Cross Society sent a notice to the south on March 30, seeking a north-south Red Cross working contact to discuss settlement of the issue but this was rejected by South Korea.

The central committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society released a statement on April 18 and disclosed "the truth about the inhuman act" by the ROK authorities against the DPRK fishermen.