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Agence France-Presse

The badly decomposed remains of seven people have been found in a suspected North Korean fishing boat that washed up on a Japanese island, a coastguard official said Sunday.
The remains were found on Saturday in a broken vessel on the shore of Sado Island, which lies around 900km (560 miles) from North Korea across the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
“Five of the bodies were identified as men but the remaining two could not be identified” as they were badly damaged, the official said. An earlier report said they were just two heads.
“There have been similar cases but this was the first discovery of bodies in such a wrecked boat on this island this year,” the official added.


Korean alphabet and numbers were painted on the wooden hull, which was broken in half, he said, adding that there was nothing to show their nationality.
A police officer first spotted the wooden boat on Friday afternoon. Police waited until Saturday before entering it due to unstable weather.
Local media said Japanese police and coastguard are investigating the case, suspecting the vessel departed from North Korea.
So far this year, at least 156 suspected North Korean fishing vessels washed up on Japan’s coast or were found drifting in Japanese waters, according to the Yomiuri newspaper.
Experts say some North Korean fishermen are travelling far out to sea in order to satisfy government mandates for bigger catches.

But their old and poorly equipped vessels are prone to mechanical and other problems, including running out of fuel, and there are few ways for them to call for rescue.
Some of the boats wash up on Japanese shores with dead crews, called “ghosts ships” by local media.
Last year, 10 North Koreans rescued from a tiny wooden boat drifting off northern Japan were deported.
In October, around 60 members of a North Korean fishing boat were rescued in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) after it sank following a collision with a Japanese patrol vessel.
Four North Korean fishermen wash up in Japan, suggesting international sanctions have driven them to desperation
The grisly find adds to the troubles that Japan and South Korea have with their neighbour North Korea, as strained diplomatic ties over the North’s nuclear arms programme could make an investigation difficult to carry out.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has given the United States until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country’s nuclear arsenal and reducing tensions between the adversaries.
Also on Friday, Japanese public broadcaster NHK sent a news bulletin that incorrectly reported North Korea had launched a missile that fell into waters east of the Japanese archipelago, issuing an apology explaining it was a media training alert.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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North Korea

Remains of 7 people found on suspected North Korean ‘ghost ship’ in Japan

Part of a wooden boat containing human remains and suspected to be from North Korea. Photo: Reuters

Numbers and letters are seen on a wooden boat containing human remains and suspected to be from North Korea, according to a Coast Guard official, along a shore of Sado island, Niigata Prefecture, Japan December 28, 2019. Sado Coast Guard Station/ Handout via REUTERS MANDATORY CREDIT. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Four North Korean fishermen wash up in Japan, suggesting international sanctions have driven them to desperation

A wooden boat washed ashore in Okinoshima. Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun

Canberra is puzzled by a ghost ship that is carrying only rotting fish

News

Asia

East Asia


Korean alphabet letters were found on the bow of the vessel



Japanese police and coastguard are investigating the case, suspecting the vessel departed from North Korea


Japan

Kim Jong-un

Human rights

Remains of 7 people found on suspected North Korean ‘ghost ship’ in Japan

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Korean alphabet letters were found on the bow of the vessel

Korean alphabet letters were found on the bow of the vessel