North Koreans — both dead and alive — keep washing up on Japanese shores, according to Japanese media reports.
North Koreans — both dead and alive — keep washing up on Japanese shores, according to Japanese media reports.
The Japanese Coast Guard has been busy this month dealing with ghost ships filled with skeletonized bodies and unexpected visitors reportedly from North Korea. As of Tuesday, 26 wooden ships had appeared drifting just off or washed up on Japanese beaches, according to the Asahi Shimbun. In past months, the number was around five, but the frequency has risen.
A North Korean boat drifted ashore in Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture last week, and the crew of eight North Korean fishermen were taken into police custody for questioning. “Our boat broke down after we left North Korea about a month and half ago to catch squid,” one told authorities, expressing a desire to return home. Another boat filled with the bodies of eight dead sailors and believed to be of North Korean origin showed up on the beaches in Oga, Akita a few days later. Two more dead bodies, also suspected North Korean sailors, were discovered Monday amid wreckage in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, the Japan Times reported at the time.
